I’ll admit that I had no optimism or hope going in to “In the Valley of Elah.” Starting it up, I expected another heavy handed commentary on the Iraq war with a self-important story, and all-star cast, and while it does sport the latter aspect, it is indeed a truly gripping and heartbreaking drama about a man’s search for answers when his son, an Iraq war soldier, suddenly goes AWOL and turns up dead. Paul Haggis touches upon a prevalent theme in America with “In the Valley of Elah,” aiming to display the common American patriot at odds with his loyalties and values when he learns that everything he thought he once knew about honor, dignity and the military was pretty much in vain his entire life as a dedicated soldier. When his son is found in horrible condition, he destroys every boundary as a citizen and enters into an investigation to learn who murdered him, and realizes that what he’s about to find is something he doesn’t actually want to know after all.

The gradual and deliberate pacing the Haggis submits us to gives us this powder keg that’s bound to explode amidst this slow boil murder mystery with a scathing indictment on our patriotism that many of us continue to abide by in the face of this war that has shattered many lives and may continue to. Hank is a character who a true blue patriot in the start and transforms into another beast altogether by the last scene and now must grieve not just his son, but his entire life. Jones convinces us that he’s a man filled with utter horror and devastation unfolding the clues and recollections of the war and the alleged witnesses on the night of his son’s death, and maintains his composure even in high stress moments of confessions and evidence. He’s simply a father looking for answers and submits to his old methods of interrogation and recon to get him from point A to point B.

Charlize Theron has a very understated and low key supporting performance as a detective hoping to prove herself with the case of Hank’s son which inadvertently falls into her lap due to circumstances beyond her control, and she’s also another character in the pair who may just be forced to confront a world she once thought was just and noble. Theron is commanding and really performs well off of the powerhouse Jones whose own emotional torment supersedes any of the other character’s motives and issues. Not to be outdone, Susan Sarandon’s brief performance as Hank’s wife who receives a blunt view of her son’s murder is fantastic. The ultimate question posed by Haggis, ultimately a moralist storyteller, is: What happens when the person you thought you knew turns out to be a complete stranger? And what happens when the cause you thought was worth fighting for ends up a completely lost cause with no hope of being saved? That’s the dilemma Hank faces and may never resolve, much like America and their once gung-ho patriotism.

Though not a commercial success in 2007, "In the Valley of Elah" will hopefully be appreciated years from now when the Iraq war is looked upon by many as a war that revealed to its citizens what America has truly become. With incredible performances, and a gripping story, this is one of the best war time tragedies of the decade.

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