A father receives a telephone call from the military authorities informing him that his son has been killed. On further investigation the father finds out that his son was not killed in active service in Iraq but in America close to the military base. He is called to identify his son's charred body and this in itself raises more in depth questions. With the military not answering the satisfactory questions, he is forced to involve the local police only to find that the incident took place on Military ground and not within the territory of the local police.

I have to say that I bought this film, as I am a great fan of Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon. Most of their earlier choices of films have been great and is the very reason I have rated them as super stars. The story is based on American troops serving in Iraq and the trauma they all experienced whilst serving their country. But this scenario has been done so many times before that it really needs to be a far more… more »

A father receives a telephone call from the military authorities informing him that his son has been killed. On further investigation the father finds out that his son was not killed in active service in Iraq but in America close to the military base. He is called to identify his son's charred body and this in itself raises more in depth questions. With the military not answering the satisfactory questions, he is forced to involve the local police only to find that the incident took place on Military ground and not within the territory of the local police.

I have to say that I bought this film, as I am a great fan of Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon. Most of their earlier choices of films have been great and is the very reason I have rated them as super stars. The story is based on American troops serving in Iraq and the trauma they all experienced whilst serving their country. But this scenario has been done so many times before that it really needs to be a far more intriguing storyline than is presented here. The plot ambles along so slowly that as the time ticks by I started to wonder when the film was going to kick in. If the players were not as strong a line up as presented, it would suffer further frustration. I firmly believe that this cast carried the film, as the story line was not going to give this an impressive rating. As for action it is non-existent, although the cinematography cannot be faulted.

All the actors give a 5 star performance and include mere cameo roles for Josh Brolin, James Franco and Jason Patric. It's worth watching but I would have difficulty sitting through it a second time around.

In The Valley Of Elah is a mouthful on it's own. But the film was good, there wasn't really anything that stood out too much for me. The meaning of the film and how the soldiers lives change when they've been to Iraq is nothing new. Been done plenty of times before. The directing was okay but not as good as we've seen Paul Haggis before. The film is slow moving as well and it will keep you interested but when you watch it a second time theres nothing to keep your interest. The film was shot well and the cinematography was good. The film is a bit of a tear jerker but i felt it was aimed mainly at American audiences, unlike Crash which was aimed at racism and people in all countries could relate to it.

The acting was good on all parts. Tommy Lee Jones really can't be faulted, he's a terrific actor. It was nice to see Charlize Theron is another descent role at last. But they were really the only main characters. Susan Sarandon and Josh Brolin were really underused and James Franco… more »

In The Valley Of Elah is a mouthful on it's own. But the film was good, there wasn't really anything that stood out too much for me. The meaning of the film and how the soldiers lives change when they've been to Iraq is nothing new. Been done plenty of times before. The directing was okay but not as good as we've seen Paul Haggis before. The film is slow moving as well and it will keep you interested but when you watch it a second time theres nothing to keep your interest. The film was shot well and the cinematography was good. The film is a bit of a tear jerker but i felt it was aimed mainly at American audiences, unlike Crash which was aimed at racism and people in all countries could relate to it.

The acting was good on all parts. Tommy Lee Jones really can't be faulted, he's a terrific actor. It was nice to see Charlize Theron is another descent role at last. But they were really the only main characters. Susan Sarandon and Josh Brolin were really underused and James Franco had more of a special guest appearance than a supporting role.

All together I'd say the film is worth a watch but i don't know if i would by this again if i saw it first to be honest.

3 star film
4 star product

3.5 stars overall.