FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: In The Valley Of Elah [DVD] [2008]

In The Valley Of Elah [DVD] [2008]
enlarge	Director: Paul Haggis Actors: Charlize Theron, Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon, Josh Brolin, James Franco Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£19.99~~ Buy New: £3.43 as of 22/11/2009 05:34 GMT details You Save: £16.56 (83%) New (28) Used (7) Collectible (2) from £2.99 Seller: enigmadirect Rating: 43 reviews Sales Rank: 3700 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 121 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5055201802507 ASIN: B0012XQJ9U Theatrical Release Date: 2007 Release Date: May 26, 2008 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review Notch up another great role for Tommy Lee Jones here, as his starring performance in the lead of IIn The Valley Of Elah/I is a further acting performance of real merit. And this from the man who has already recently added the equally excellent INo Country For Old Men/I to his CV. P IIn The Valley Of Elah/I, however, is a very different beast. It's the new film from writer/director Paul Haggis, he who previously brought us Oscar-winner ICrash/I, and Jones stars as Hank Deerfield, a man who decides to take matters into his own hands when he finds out that his son has disappeared. However, what complicates matters is that Deerfield's son is a soldier on leave, and the military are proving to be little help in getting to the bottom of the mystery. P Yet there's far more to IIn The Valley Of Elah/I than that, even though its narrative is interesting and surprising. No, there are real layers of drama here, and none more obvious than those surrounding Jones' character (the lead actor, incidentally, snagged a richly-deserved Oscar nomination for his work here). He's an understated, yet brilliant, creation, and one quite wonderfully brought to life. In conjunction with Susan Sarandon as his wife, and Charlize Theron as the detective he enlists the help of, IIn The Valley Of Elah/I emerges as one of the most unfairly overlooked films of recent times, and one that's ripe for discovery on DVD. A superb piece of work. --IJon Foster/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 43 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...9 Next » Tense and gripping, with a real sense of doom February 8, 2008 Dr. George L. Sik (Epsom, Surrey) 25 out of 29 found this review helpful This is not a war film. It is a murder mystery thriller, part police procedural, part dogged individual working it out for himself. Nevertheless, events in Iraq loom darkly in the background, glimpsed on grainy, corrupted little clips on a mobile phone. br / br /This is a towering performance by Tommy Lee Jones as a gnarled but idealistic ex-soldier, full of tiny glimpses of emotion under a surface of deternined stoicism. Susan Sarandon is equally compelling as his wife. In fact all the performances in this film are thoroughly believable, making it all the more chilling. br / br /To give too much of the plot away would be wrong, but Jones' character gets a call to say that his son, recently returned to America after a tour of Iraq, has gone missing. Believing this to be out of character, he drives across the States to his base in order to investigate. What he finds isn't pleasant. br / br /Gripping right up until the final pan up a flagpole (you're dying to see what's flying there...for reasons which will become clear), this is a detective story with a difference and one of the best films in recent years. Whodunit and whytheydunit October 18, 2008 Charles Vasey (London, England) 4 out of 4 found this review helpful This is an interesting film; a good solid whodunit combined with a bit of Americans-in-combat-angst. Usually such a mixture would result in a mess, but in this case they fit together wonderfully well. There are lots of good performances linked to two main ones from the female cop (Charlize Theron) and Tommy Lee Jones as the institutionalised ex-military policeman. If the film has a theme (other than just a damned good plot) it is to do with the lack of male communication. This is admirably communicated by Jones in his at times robotic performance. Is it grief at the death of his son or is a life of polishing shoes and creasing trousers just ingrained, the story does not feel the need to tell us; which is very much part of the theme? But Jones suggests both; such that an apology or compliment from him is a high feature in the character development. The film lacks easy villains (though it tempts you to believe in them before removing the rug from beneath your feet). There are a number of times where the story looks to be over most tidily only for it to kick off again. Most films cannot manage one good ending, this one manages several. "We're So Sorry For Your Loss...If There's Anything We Can Do..." December 18, 2008 Mark Barry at Revival Records, West End (London, UK) 3 out of 3 found this review helpful "In The Valley Of Elah" isn't really a movie about the Iraq War - it's about the soldiers who return home from it and the parents of those soldiers who don't return home at all. br / br /Written and directed by Paul Haggis (who did the equally superb "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby"), the movie is far less showy than "Rendition" and less posturing than the ridiculous "Lions For Lambs". And while "Elah" has an unfolding power in its carefully measured pace, it's also braver in its assessment of the American military and their less-than-angelic ways... br / br /Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon play Hank Joan Deerfield, the parents of a young soldier Mike Deerfield, who has inexplicably gone missing since his return from a tour in Bosnia and Iraq in November 2004. Hank visits the base where his son bunked, but neither Jason Patrick as Lieutenant Kirklander, James Franco as Sgt. Carnelli nor any of his division buddies are helpful - and worse - many seem unnerved - almost as if they're hiding something very nasty. A local beleaguered Detective in the police force, single-parent Emily Sanders (played by a superb Charlize Theron) gets embroiled in what she suspects is a grieving father being shafted by the canny US military. And without giving away too much, on the story goes... br / br /One of the movies great strengths is of course the presence and capability of real heavyweights like Jones, Sarandon and Theron. Tommy Lee in particular is sensational. Just when you thought you'd seen every stone-clad grimace he can throw at you, for "Elah" he digs down deep and finds tremulous moments that floor you with their power and humanity. His character Deerfield is "army" - old-school values and discipline - he presses his trousers over a table to get the crease right - fixes an American flag that has been hanging upside down - calls all women 'mam' and won't be seen without a clean shirt on in front of any of them. Yet Hank is not naive either - he knows that his boy's tour of Iraq wouldn't have been without sickening cruelty or even dishonour. But what gives the movie its emotional core is his skill at depicting that. You can 'feel' his barely-contained lashing-out rage bubbling underneath - or when he just quietly sits in his pick-up truck in sad-eyed despair - why are American sons left in pieces on scrubs for wild animals to feed on - did I impose my 'will' on my boy and force the army life on him - and why does civilian America not give a shit about any of it? br / br /There's a scene where Sarandon walks away with her husband down a corridor - there's no music - just them walking away - her hand outstretched in disbelief. The camera stays stationary - watching them walk away in silence - and you know the buckle into his arms is going to come - you know it - and yet when it does - it still has the power of real hurt. br / br /Theron is great too - one of the most intelligent actresses working in Hollywood today - she has her beauty toned down by dowdy dark hair and clunky uniforms - and it works - you concentrate on her first rate acting. There's a scene when she hugs her sleeping son at night who needs the bedroom door open because he's scared - she hugs him close - thankful that he is not another statistic of some ignored list somewhere - you 'feel' what is precious to us - and the utter devastation of having that link to our very soul taken away... br / br /The supporting cast is also universally superb - really good actors in a quality film given quality material to work with - and they know it. Jason Patrick gets his part in years as the army spokesman trapped between the two worlds of the Army's need to cover up and the public's need for the truth; Josh Brolin plays the local Police Chief, weary of unsolved cases and ever so slightly disinterested, but a man who knows that his female detective will terrier out the ugly no matter what. Barry Corbin (of Northern exposure fame) puts in a touching old-army buddy cameo with Tommy Lee in a café, while Jake McLaughlin and Mehcad Brooks are idealistic and young as the 'just following orders' grunts. Wes Chatham in particular is chillingly fantastic as Corporal Penning - detached and jauntily psychotic as he discusses how hungry he gets after a good day's killing... br / br /"In The Valley Of Elah" is a phrase from the Bible parable about David and Goliath - where David must beat his fear of the monster - and win. "Elah" is neither jolly nor pretty - but it has amazing truths in it. I thought it was an exceptional movie and it stayed with me long after I pressed the stop button. Much like war and its aftermath I suspect... br / br /Put this film high on your 'must-see' list and well done to all the good people involved. Death, Duty, Dishonor February 24, 2008 prisrob (New EnglandUSA) 14 out of 19 found this review helpful " Underneath its deceptively quiet surface, 'The Valley of Elah' is a raw, angry, earnest attempt to grasp the moral consequences of the war in Iraq, and to stare without blinking into the chasm that divides those who are fighting it from their families, their fellow citizens and one another." A.O.Scott br / br /Tommy Lee Jones, as Hank Deerfield, plays the role of his lifetime. He is gruff, polished, a former MP in the Army, and his love for duty, honor and his country and an upright sense of right and wrong is a sign of his exrtreme faith. During the course of the film, one can see his face sag and his wrinkles deepen and his torment is written on his face for all to see. There is no make-up that can etch that misery, it came from within and that, my friend, is a sign of an accomplished thespian. Hank has been told that his son, Mike, an Army Specialist, returned from Iraq only two days is AWOL. No one knows where he is or what happened to him. After a few days, Hank gets into his truck, drives to the Army barracks in the south where his son was stationed and begins an investigation himself. br / br /He runs into Emily Sanders, a local detective played by Charlize Theron, amd both aof them are trying to figure out who could have done such a terrible thing to his boy. Charlize Theron is superb in this role. She underplays the role, is ruthless with her superiors in pushing an investigation, and time and time again she is given new insights into the investigation by Hank. He has experience and knows his job. br / br /When the charred pieces of his son's body are found by a desert road near the base, Hank puts his battle face on. The only clues he has are some JPEGs his son e-mailed to him. We see in the film, Hank awakening night after night from the memory of a late-night phone call from Mike in the war zone, and we see scrambled video recovered from Mike's cellphone. These unfocused streams are a simile of what is wrong in this war and what we are missing in the nightly news. What is really happening in Iraq? br / br /The underlying theme of this movie is the war in Iraq. There is no questioning of why are we there, should we be there, no, the message is the terrible impact this war has had on our soldiers and on us and more of what is yet to come. br / br /Hank asks us "What is what we're doing in Iraq doing to us?" The title of the film is derived from a Biblical reference, "The Valley of Elah is best known as the scene of the Biblical battle between David and Goliath (Elah means terebinth, a tree commonly found in this area). The brook of Elah, which lies in the heart of the valley, is a seasonal creek that runs dry in the summer months. Most probably the brook from which David chose five smooth stones in preparation for battle, it is the ideal place to reminisce about what is arguably the most famous story from the Bible. The Elah Valley is fifteen miles from Bethlehem." Bible.com br / br /"The David and Goliah reference is in Haggis' metaphorical scheme, cast as the giant caught off guard. That's a profoundly unsettling idea, but In the Valley of Elah also uses the American flag to bring you to tears. It's the first Hollywood Iraq movie to remind me of a Vietnam film like Coming Home, and it does more than disturb. It scalds, moves, and heals." br /Owen Gleiberman br / br /This film has left a scar on my soul. I will remember Tommy Lee Jones's performance as a reference of what America is feeling about the loss of our soldiers in Iraq and what we have asked of them. What have we done? br / br /Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 02-24-08 br / Concise, elegant and disturbing thiller June 22, 2008 Y. Karl (Scandinavia) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful Tommy Lee Jones is magnificent in this - though a criminal thriller, one of the best films yet about consequences of sending young people into war. Not to be missed! Showing reviews 1-5 of 43 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...9 Next »

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