REVIEW: In the Valley of Elah (2007)
In the Valley of Elah {dir. Paul Haggis, 2007}
(*/****)
According to the age old bible story, David entered the Valley of Elah carrying a slingshot. However in the movie "In the Valley of Elah", director Paul Haggis (he of "Crash" fame or infamy, depending on your opinion) wields a heavy sledge-hammer, which he is content to bash over the audience's head whenever he wants to make a point. "Crash" inspired much hatred for its supposed cheap emotional stunts and unlikely coincidences, along with its rigid moralizing. However, I felt that in that film Haggis manged to pull of an emotionally tumultuous and powerful film. Here he has given us a movie that tells us what we already know, and does in ways that will most insult our intelligence.
Saved only by Jones's rich and deeply felt performance, this is one laughably directed picture. It purports to be both a murder mystery/ thriller and a commentary regarding our troubles in times of war. Yet as a mystery it bores and is poorly focused; and as a statement on the effect war has on the participants it seems to not even be attempting to shed any new light on the situation. Haggis the screenwriter, it seems, has lost his capacity to bring an interesting narrative, and Haggis the director has completely lost any semblance of subtlety, along with the inability to balance the message with the story Here he has the skeleton of what could have been a powerful and moving family drama, and he instead opts for simple obvious metaphors and a final shot the left me rolling my eyes. Yet through all this muck and mire, Tommy Lee Jones remains not only a solid presence, but seemingly the only person who knew how to handle the story. It is a performance so good that its is almost worth sitting through a movie this wretched. After his film "The Three Burials of Melquilades Estrada", we know Jones is quite the exemplary filmmaker, perhaps he would have been able to re- work the script to get a good, or at least respectable final product. As it stands, In the Valley of Elah is quite the opposite, a self- righteous and frustrating.
(*/****)
According to the age old bible story, David entered the Valley of Elah carrying a slingshot. However in the movie "In the Valley of Elah", director Paul Haggis (he of "Crash" fame or infamy, depending on your opinion) wields a heavy sledge-hammer, which he is content to bash over the audience's head whenever he wants to make a point. "Crash" inspired much hatred for its supposed cheap emotional stunts and unlikely coincidences, along with its rigid moralizing. However, I felt that in that film Haggis manged to pull of an emotionally tumultuous and powerful film. Here he has given us a movie that tells us what we already know, and does in ways that will most insult our intelligence.
Saved only by Jones's rich and deeply felt performance, this is one laughably directed picture. It purports to be both a murder mystery/ thriller and a commentary regarding our troubles in times of war. Yet as a mystery it bores and is poorly focused; and as a statement on the effect war has on the participants it seems to not even be attempting to shed any new light on the situation. Haggis the screenwriter, it seems, has lost his capacity to bring an interesting narrative, and Haggis the director has completely lost any semblance of subtlety, along with the inability to balance the message with the story Here he has the skeleton of what could have been a powerful and moving family drama, and he instead opts for simple obvious metaphors and a final shot the left me rolling my eyes. Yet through all this muck and mire, Tommy Lee Jones remains not only a solid presence, but seemingly the only person who knew how to handle the story. It is a performance so good that its is almost worth sitting through a movie this wretched. After his film "The Three Burials of Melquilades Estrada", we know Jones is quite the exemplary filmmaker, perhaps he would have been able to re- work the script to get a good, or at least respectable final product. As it stands, In the Valley of Elah is quite the opposite, a self- righteous and frustrating.
posted by MovieDude at 11:12 AM
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