IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH

FROM DIRECTOR PAUL HAGGIS whose previous work includes directing "Crash" and writing "Million Dollar Baby," both Oscar winners, and was nominated as co-writer of "Letters From Iwo Jima."

Ostensibly a murder-mystery set against the backdrop of the war in Iraq, In the Valley of Elah is a deeply reflective, quietly powerful work that is as timely as it is moving.

Review by Roger Eberts

Tommy Lee Jones character Sergeant Deerpoint is uncertain that the version of events being given to him by the army he once served with respect and love are true - about the tragic death of his son - who had survived a tour of duty in Iraq, only to die once back on American soil. He doggedly questions the army investigators, and Charlize Theron's police detective character is motivated enough to be his ally in the quest. Officially, every army door is closed in his face, but Theron's sexual chemistry is enough to disarm even the hardest of men, and she gently probes, being given enough 'off-the-record' material to finally piece together the events of the tragedy. But is that tragedy that we uncover Deerpoint junior's death as murder? Or that the army once so loved, and so respected, can turn its back, leaving you with nothing but sheer contempt for it? Finally, Deerpoint's son in Iraq descended into behaviour that can only reflect the Hell-hole that war is, and what Deerpoint's colleagues eventually do to him is only a consequence of all that dehumanization... and the tragedy of Sergeant Deerpoint's final disillusionment, signified in that tattered and torn Old Glory he raises at the end. More at IMDB

Watch the trailer. More information at Renoir