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In the Valley of Elah

A 90-minute Oscar wanna-be

By PETER KEOUGH | September 12, 2007

2.0 Stars

IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH: No social or political problem too complicated.

No social or political problem is so complicated that Paul Haggis can’t reduce it to a glib, manipulative, 90-minute Oscar wanna-be. Post traumatic stress disorder and the consequences of the war in Iraq are more clear-cut subjects than racism in LA, so he needs only one story line to hammer home his simplistic conclusions. Tommy Lee Jones puts in a simmering performance (say what you will, Haggis brings the best out of actors) as Hank, an Army vet whose son has gone AWOL while on leave. Playing detective, Hank studies his son’s corrupted video files for clues, an activity that affords Haggis some gratuitous Blow-Up indulgences. When the case intensifies, Hank testily teams up with local cop Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron), and the solution proves more tendentious than suspenseful. Few will deny that the war dehumanizes, but Haggis’s suggestion that everybody who comes back is a sociopath won’t win many friends.

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