In The Valley of Elah

Met up with Edwin and Derrick to watch In The Valley of Elah at The Cathay on Saturday.

Based of actual events, In The Valley of Elah is a movie about a father looking for his son who has gone AWOL (absence without official leave) after returning from Iraq. The father, Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), is a retired military personnel who searches for clues to find his missing son through the help of his military friends and the contacts in his handphone.

This movie is not for the regular movie-goer as it deals much with the themes of death, war, responsibility and the irreparable post-war syndromes of the soldiers. In other words, it is a subtle and quietly devastating outlook at the impact that US soldiers had experienced during the Iraq war. The pace of the movie is slow-going and it allows us to fully absorb the emotional upheaval that Hank and his wife experience throughout the search and the final realization of the tragic truth.

Tommy Lee Jones is stoic but staggeringly strong in his character as the father and Charlize Theron gives a good performance as the unwavering police detective.

This movie is essentially an anti-war movie and it does a very good job in promoting that message. The final scene of the American flag is etched deeply in my heart and i do feel that all US citizens should see the movie.