Ralph's Movie Reviews: IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH

Saturday, September 29, 2007

IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH

Murder mystery

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Tommy Lee Jones: Hank Deerfield, retired military police officer
Susan Sarandon: his wife Joan
Jason Patric: Lt. Kirklander, officer at Fort Rudd army camp
Jonathan Tucker: Mike Deerfield, veteran of the Iraq war
Wes Chatham: one of his platoon buddies Corporal Steve Penning
Jake McLaughlin: Specialist Gordon Bonner
Mehcad Brooks: Specialist Ennis Long
Charlize Theron: police detective Emily Sanders

REVIEW
What sets this movie apart from some of the others is the terrific acting by the three principals (Jones, Sarandon and Theron) coupled with a well-developed story that provide clues on a piecemeal basis.

Although there is one subplot involving a woman who’s dog got hurt, for the most part things stay focused on the main task at hand, finding out who done it. And that they do in a most satisfactory manner.

CLASSIFICATION

for violent and disturbing content, language, some sexuality and nudity.

P.S.
According to the National Flag Code, chapter 10, section §176 governing the display of the United States Flag:
“it should never be displayed upside down except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.