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In The Valley Of Elah

I liked it overall as it was a subtle and indirect manner of exposing the negative transformation many youths undergo when entering the armed forces and combat. Though I think the movie failed to do well financially for the following reasons.

• Other

The title of the film is based on the story Tommy Lee Jones tells Charlize Theron’s son, about the young (future King) David slaying Goliath and how he was able to do so by conquering his fear. Thing is, I didn’t understand this metaphor and theme. Is America supposed to be David and the Iraqis the Goliaths? That doesn’t make sense. Is the story just about the fear element? Then what fear are Americans, or at least the American miltary, supposed to overcome, and why use that historical event with many overtones to convey just one? It’s bad enough this important element remained fuzzy in the film, but to use it for the title- probably the most vital marketing aspect of any movie- left some people confused about the general tone and idea of the movie.

• The end

Tommy Lee and Charlize realize his son’s signature was forged on the credit card slip, they go back to the army base to re-question the forger…and they’re told that he already confessed to the murder. Ouch! That was painful on a couple of fronts- one, that soldier was no longer a suspect at that point and seemed to have covered his tracks…the movie gave him no reason to believe Tommy Lee and Charlize were still suspicious of him and we saw no signs of guilt eating away at him (indeed, the lack of guilt was one of the chilling aspects of the tale) so why did he confess? And two, deus ex machina. Why have the dramatic breakthrough, the confession, off- screen and without the protagonists causing it? Regardless of how good a movie is, a poor ending often represents one’s feelings for the whole movie (whereas a good ending on an average movie can make the whole thing seem better).

• Little things

In the story about King David, Tommy Lee tells the boy that it happened around 3,000 years ago…in “Palestine.” Shame on Paul Haggis and everyone else for not knowing basic history. The area 3,000 years ago was Israel; Palestine was a name coined by the Romans about 1,000 years later when they conquered Israel and, amongst other aggressions, sought to emotionally separate the Jews from their land.

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