What Do The Critics Say?

"Haggis draws sensitive performances from his cast while asking provocative, important questions. Jones gives one of his most subtly detailed performances ever, telling us everything we need to know in the tiniest flicker of his eyes. And Theron builds her steely character with unstoppable resolve softened by brittle emotion. Their banter is sharp and thoroughly engaging. In smaller scenes, Sarandon has some terrific moments, as do the actors playing the army meatheads." Rich Cline SHADOWS ON THE WALL "Jones, craggy, weary and knowing, is superb as Hank Deerfield, a ramrod-straight Vietnam veteran and former military policeman trying to unravel the mystery of his missing son, a soldier gone AWOL shortly after returning from a stint in Iraq. "In the Valley of Elah" rises and falls on the strength of Tommy Lee Jones' performance, which is to say that it rises to great heights, indeed." Bill Goodykoontz THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC "The considerable power of the film is contained in Jones's hard-bitten, movingly understated performance." David Ansen NEWSWEEK "Director-screenwriter Paul Haggis has written a breathtaking emotional role for Tommy Lee Jones. Here is an actor who has; up until now (who knows what the future holds), refused to alter his aging face. There are very few actors who could have played this part. Jones is electrifying ands this is the most important role in his career. He is the film. There is one (of many) memorable scene where he just sits, saying nothing. His face expresses all the grief he is feeling." Victoria Alexander FILMSINREVIEW

"After the potent final image of In the Valley of Elah faded to black, I had that very special tingle I get when I know I've just seen a great movie." Mike McGranaghan AISLE SEAT "Haggis has an extraordinary knack for choosing themes which are controversial and relevant, and then getting his actors to maximize their skills." David Kaplan KAPLAN V KAPLAN "A heartbreaking story that is told with honor and intelligence in a stirring film that will haunt you long after seeing it. " Peter Hammond MAXIM "Haggis's In the Valley of Elah is built on Tommy Lee Jones' persona, that is why it works so well." Roger Ebert CHICAGO SUN-TIMES "This is Jones' show and he makes you feel a father's fear and loss in ways that are subtly heartbreaking, never melodramatic." Christy Lemire ASSOCIATED PRESS "Tommy Lee Jones is at the top of his game as a grieving fa ther determined to uncover the disturbing truth behind his soldier son's death in Paul Haggis's In the Valley of Elah." Lou Lumenick NEW YORK POST "In the Valley of Elah is another in a long line of great Tommy Lee Jones performances. This is Jones' movie, a quiet performance of weight and impact." Roger Moore ORLANDO SENTINEL

The Inside Story Following the success of "Crash" there was no shortage of source material for writer/director Paul Haggis to choose from for his next project; nevertheless he was up for a challenge. In meetings with his agents, Haggis recalls, "I said to them, anything that you know will never be made, that’s what I want." Shortly thereafter, he was sent a magazine article from Playboy Magazine written by Mark Boal called "Death and Dishonor". "I was really moved by it," says Haggis. "It’s a very tragic story and I said I really want to do this." "We’d been on the lookout for this kind of material for awhile," concurs producer Laurence Becsey who has worked with Haggis for more than a decade. "Paul had an instant affinity to the subject matter," he recalled. "It’s a powerful tale. When you read the article you realize it’s the platform to approach a subject that could resonate with everybody. What’s the right thing to do for justice? What do we do to take care of ourselves? What does everybody do to take care of the family?" Boal’s article details the murder of a young Army enlisted man just home from Iraq who was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, the investigation mounted by his father following his disappearance, and the toll of combat on three platoon mates accused of the murder. In shopping the idea around, Haggis took it to collaborator four time Academy Award winner Clint Eastwood (Best Director "Unforgiven", "Mystic River" & Best Picture "Unforgiven", "Million Dollar Baby") for whom Haggis wrote the Academy Award nominated screenplays, "Million Dollar Baby" and "Letters From Iwo Jima". Eastwood in turn took it to Warner Bros."Clint championed this for me and I really appreciate it," says Haggis. "Back in 2003 it was a story no one wanted to hear, so it would’ve been very difficult to make without his support." Researching his subject resulted in an expansion of the original story. "I ended up combining it with another true story, and fictionalized Hank’s journey to uncover the truth. Whether you’re for or against the war, we need to face what’s happening to the brave men and women we’re sending there. I wanted to tell the story of good people who have to make terrible decisions," Haggis explained. The story Haggis arrived at is a murder mystery with broader implications at a time when so much attention is focused on men and women in uniform. Haggis's film tells the story of war veteran Hank Deerfield, his wife Joan, and police detective Emily Sanders, a civilian and struggling single mother, who joins forces with Hank to conduct the search for his missing son. It took Haggis a year and a half to finish the script, but the casting was almost immediate. Haggis began with the Emily Sanders role. "I’d met Charlize before and I’d been telling her the story every time we bumped into each other," says Haggis about getting her involved in the project. "I finally called her and said would you read it? That was a Thursday morning, Thursday night she read it and Friday morning she called and said, I’m in." "There are few actors who are true American icons," explains Haggis about the decision to go after Jones for the role of Hank Deerfield. "Tommy Lee Jones is so much more than that. He’s one of our very best actors." Getting Tommy Lee Jones interested in the role took only a few days remembers Haggis, "He read it over the weekend; Monday he said I want to do it. I was thrilled." "I’m a huge fan of Paul’s work," Theron admitted. "I think he’s a great writer." She first met Haggis when she was on the awards circuit for "North Country" and he for "Crash". "Everywhere I went we’d end up at the same table or talking to each other and we really hit it off. I thought it would be really fascinating to go through some kind of working experience with him never knowing that he would actually offer me this part. Academy Award ® winning Best Supporting Actor Tommy Lee Jones ("The Fugitive", 1993), says of the story, "You’d have to say that it concerns itself with what a war can do to people. I also think it indicates that blind, mindless patriotism is very dangerous." "No matter how you feel about the war or where your stance is politically, the one thing you can’t deny is that we’re sending young boys and girls out there who experience a lot of trauma," says Academy Award® winning actress Charlize Theron ("Monster") who plays the struggling single mom, Police Detective Emily Sanders. "To bring them home, throw them back into this society and expect them to function as normal human beings is asking a lot of them. It’s a harsh reality and we really haven’t been very honest about it." "We see that the battlefield is divided up," adds producer Becsey. "We can view it in the most caustic way, which is combat, but the other is the emotional war that goes on. We may understand the physical sacrifices but we’re not always really prepared for the emotional and psychological cost." "Paul’s got a great instinct," says Becsey about the decision to cast Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron in the key roles. "It’s a unique combination. They both have a brassy side to them which is so necessary for their parts." Another key role is that of Hank Deerfield’s wife, Joan. In typical Paul Haggis fashion, he sent the script to his first choice, Susan Sarandon, thinking you don’t know until you try. "She said she’d love to read it and she did," recounts Haggis, "and then she called and said, you know there’s really nothing here, is there?" Haggis looked at the script from the character of Joan’s point of view and set about making some changes. Haggis remarked about sending her the rewrites: "She read the new pages right away and signed on. That was a pretty great day." The part of Specialist Gordon Bonner is played by Jake McLaughlin, a young Iraq war vet who is making his acting debut. "He has the skills of an actor without ever having acted before," marvels Haggis. As Jake sees it, his real life combat experience puts him about even with more experienced actors. "A lot of actors have to create a back story for their character, which is very easy for me to do because I was already over there," he explained. "“In fact, I was in Iraq the same time as that soldier in the original story and in the same division. They were in the 1st Brigade and I was in the 2nd Brigade." Another military veteran, Wes Chatham, who served in the Navy for four years and was cast as Corporal Penning. "I was in the Gulf but I wasn’t in Iraq," says Chatham. "I was on a ship so it’s different but I think it definitely helped me as far as understanding my character and what he went through. I think a guy like Penning probably comes from a military family. Under the right circumstances he can be your best friend, a good soldier and under other right circumstances he could be a monster." Victor Wolf, who won the role of Private Robert Ortiez, sees his character as a lost soul. "Now that he’s home the only thing that makes sense was back in Iraq. I think it’s fascinating how this place, this war can change a person’s perspective on what’s normal." Asked about what he sees in Haggis's story he repons with, "It’s not just about these soldiers who come back and the horrors they’ve been through and seen, but it’s also about the parents and families of these soldiers, they’re never the same either and you see that it’s never over." About his attraction to the character he plays, Wolf explained: "These young boys are given the power of God in a way, taking lives as they see necessary and that really fascinated me about him." Mehcad Brooks, a series regular on "Desperate Housewives", was cast as Specialist Ennis Long. About his character’s thought process for surviving combat, Brooks says, "It was kind of hard to understand because I have not been put in a kill or be killed situation and if you hold onto what society accepts as normal then you’re dead, so you have a lot of layers to these characters and the exploration of that as an actor was amazing." After the four roles were cast, Haggis sat the young men down and instructed them to hang out together. "We spent every single minute with each other," Wolf revealed, "so we knew the good and the bad. We got on each other’s nerves sometimes but it totally shows when we’re together as though we’ve been to wars together." "“He told us to get drunk together, love each other, hate each other, get in fights and know each other forwards and backwards and become real friends," Brooks remembers. "“And we did. So when we’re doing scenes together it’s not a stretch at all because we know each other." Rounding out the cast are a collection of up and coming young actors and familiar faces. Jonathan Tucker ("Two If by Sea") plays the role of Mike Deerfield, the character whose plight sets all the action in motion, but is seen only in flashbacks. Jason Patric ("Sleepers") plays Lt Kirklander. He and James Franco ("City by the Sea", "Fool's Gold" & "Flyboys") who was cast as s Sergeant Carnelli are Ft Rudd personnel who report the disappearance, then try to control the access to evidence when the case leaves their jurisdiction. Josh Brolin (Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez "Grindhouse" & "Planet Terror") plays Emily’s boss, Chief Buchwald, the Bradford Chief of Police who tries to kick the case back to the military when it starts heating up. Topless waitress Evie, one of the last people to see Mike before he disappears, is played by Frances Fisher ("Titanic" & "The Kingdom"), Clint Eastwood's former girlfriend and mother of Francesca Fisher-Eastwood. Synopsis

On his first weekend back after serving a tour of duty in Iraq, Mike Deerfield goes missing and is reported AWOL. When his father Hank Deerfield, a retired military MP who now has his own gravel haulage business and his wife Joan get the phone call with the disturbing news, Hank sets out to search for their son. Emily Sanders, the only female police detective in the jurisdiction where Mike was last seen, reluctantly helps him in his search. As the evidence grows, her missing person’s case begins to look more and more like foul play, and soon Sanders finds herself in a fight with the military brass as she and Hank struggle to keep control of the investigation. But when Mikes mutilated body is found, the truth about his time in Iraq will finally begin to emerge. Hank's entire world is challenged and he’s forced to re-evaluate long-held beliefs to solve the mystery behind his son’s disappearance.

The Verdict "A signature role from Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones, anchors Paul Haggis's latest film, "In The Valley Of Elah". Jones's performance exceeds the brilliance he displayed as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in "No Country For Old Men" and, as Pete Perkins in "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada". The great emotion displayed by Jones is indeed heart-rending at times. You feel every agonizing moment as he struggles to find answers to the disappearance of his son. Charlize Theron handles the complex, demanding role of Detective Emily Sanders with all the skill you'd expect from an actress of her stature. Haggis, who has enjoyed great success already has not only written another superb story, he's also ticked all the right boxes when it came when choosing who would appear in this, emotive, thought provoking story. Very recommended. First class entertainment. 4 1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH" stars .......
2005 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Tommy Lee Jones ["The Fugitive", "The Missing", "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" and "No Country For Old Men"]; 2004 Berlin International Film Festival Silver Berlin Bear winner Charlize Theron ["Waking Up In Reno", "Monster", "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and "North Country"]; Jason Patric ["The Lost Boys", "Narc" and "The Alamo"]; Jonathan Tucker ["The Virgin Suicides", "The Deep End", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Hostage"]; 1995 BAFTA Best Actress Award winner Susan Sarandon ["The Client", "The Banger Sisters", "Shall We Dance" and "Irresistible"] and Josh Brolin ["Hollow Man", "Melinda and Melinda", "Into The Blue" and "No Country For Old Men"] as Chief Buchwald.
"IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH" was .......
directed by 2005 Black Movie Award winner Paul Haggis ["Red Hot" and "Crash"]; screenplay by Paul Haggis ["Crash", "Million Dollar Baby", "Flags Of Our Father" and "Casino Royale"]; art direction by Gregory S Hooper ["North Country", "Fun with Dick and Jane" and "Transformers"]; costume design by Lisa Jensen ["Grumpy Old Men", "Grumpier Old Men", "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and "Wild Hogs"]; production design by Laurence Bennett ["Fire in the Sky", "Crash" and "Freedom Writ"]; edited by Jo Francis ["Studio City" and "The House of Usher"]; cinematography by Roger Deakins A.S.C. ["The Man Who Wasn't There", "A Beautiful Mind", "Intolerable Cruelty" and "No Country for Old Men"]; original music by Three time ASCAP Film and Television Music Award winner Mark Isham ["Bobby", "Freedom Writers", "Lions For Lambs" and "The Mist"]; set decoration by Linda Lee Sutton ["Kiss the Girls", "Frailty" and "Crash"]. Who's Who?

Tommy Lee Jones Jonathan Tucker Susan Sarandon Jason Patric Josh Brolin Charlize Theron Wayne Duvall Glenn Taranto Brent Briscoe Greg Serano James Franco Barry Corbin Frances Fisher Wes Chatham Jake McLaughlin Mehcad Brooks Victor Wolf Brent Sexton Devin Brochu Zoe Kazan Jennifer Siebel

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Hank Deerfield Mike Deerfield Joan Deerfield Lt Kirklander Chief Buchwald Detective Emily Sanders Detective Nugent Detective Wayne Detective Hodge Detective Manny Nunez Sgt Dan Carnelli Arnold Bickman Evie Corporal Steve Penning Spc Gordon Bonner Spc Ennis Long Private Robert Ortiez Lt Burke David Sanders Angie Jodie

Run Time 121 minutes Rated MA 15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2008 - Hoyts Distribution - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.