in the valley of elah
I knew this would be a political film. I.M.D.B. had warned me. I knew it would be a decent film because Jones and Theron were starring and Haggis was writing. But I still had my doubts. Haggis’ brilliance comes with the emotions that saturate his work. His screenplays—Crash, flags of our fathers—are wrought with feeling. My doubts stemmed from this one being more like last kiss than flags of our fathers.
With Crash, Haggis went too far. The film was intentionally racist, but to its detriment. A film about war brings the same emotional layers and I was worried he’d get too caught up in them. With his signature of character contemplation and growth, he doesn’t put a lot of plot into his work. I was right, and I was wrong. It was action-packed with emotion, but the story built itself in a great way. It wasn’t as slow as I thought it would be, but it still felt long.
The story follows Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee) as he searches for his son, who was reported A.W.O.L. just days after arriving home from Iraq. As a former M.P. investigator, Hank knows his way around a crime scene. He digs where the M.P. doesn’t out of fear they’ll taint their own image. He goes over pictures Mike, his son (Tucker), has sent. A tech repairman emails him videos, ripped from his son’s defunct cellphone, that paint a picture of his experience overseas. With the help of Det. Emily Sanders (Theron), he tries to piece together the truth.
The acting was decent throughout. Tommy Lee did a great job. It’s not his usual character or film, but he made it his own. He had more range in this film than I’ve seen, but I’m admittedly a bit low on my Tommy Lee collection. This film seems to put him on a similar career path to Clint Eastwood (who was originally slated for the role). From the looks of it, he should be able to handle it.
Charlize was good, but she’s relatively consistent. She spent a lot of time staring blankly, appearing to be in deep thought, but that may have been more screenplay than acting; it’s hard to say. Tucker was barely in the film, but showed the desperation, and then hostility, of Mike Deerfield with ease. I’m not a huge fan of Sarandon, but she carried her weight as Mike’s mother and alongside Jones.
Haggis did well with the directing. He conveyed the loss, helplessness, and devotion with ease. He liked to shrink the screen to provide emphasis, using light and silhouettes. It was effective. The use of the videos, recorded off Mike’s cellphone, was smart. The long shots, used to show a character on the verge of a breakthrough or breakdown were strong at first, but grew tiresome. The technique was used too often and slowed the film.
And on the political side of things, it’s intense. This is the most hard-hitting war commentary I’ve seen. The documentaries do their part in relaying facts and realities of what goes on on the ground, but the story that Haggis weaves into this one is outstanding. The subtlety he uses displaying the atrocities of war is incredibly astute. His brand of storytelling, which relies heavily on foreshadowing cues and multiple perspectives, seems to be made for this sort of film.
The conservative see it as an attack and an anti-war film (one woman on I.M.D.B. went as far as to say the actions in it never happened). There’s a strong argument for that. Any film that tries to realistically depict war will cast a dark shadow on warfare itself. But they fail to see the deeper messages. At the heart of this film is a story of loss; a man who has lost a son, a boy who has lost his innocence, and a country that has lost its way. There are hundreds of reports that support the claims made in this film. They may not have happened to a specific family or soldier, but the fact that they collectively happened makes this movie stronger.
It’s the best I’ve seen from both Jones and Haggis as respective pieces in the making of it. Eastwood’s direction made million dollar baby a better film, but this has a stronger message. It’s probably the first to arrive in this year’s film season. I don’t think it has the power or longevity to get the best picture nod, but it touches on controversial issues—and that’s what made everyone swoon over crash.
It’s slow, and subtle, but going into a Haggis film you almost have to expect that. It has many layers, but the sense of loss and despair is heavy. This is not a film for the die-hard conservatives. The message will be missed, which is a shame, in favor of claiming it’s unpatriotic. On the contrary, it is one of the most patriotic films I’ve seen. And I commend Haggis for that.
*****
ap Says: