In the Valley of Elah
In the Valley of Elah is a film written and directed by Academy Award-winning director Paul Haggis, who adapted a Playboy Magazine article written by Mark Boal. The movie stars Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, and Jason Patrick. Jones won an Oscar-nomination for his performance.
Synopsis
When model soldier Mike Deerfield, who recently returned to the U.S. from the front lines of Iraq, goes AWOL without a trace, his veteran father Hank (Tommy Lee Jones) begins to investigate his son's true fate.
Mikes's father is a former MP from the Vietnam era, and recruits Detective Emily Sanders (Theron) to assist him in his search for the missing soldier. While it remains to be seen whether Hank will ever find his missing son, what he does discover while getting caught up in a tangled web of intrigue, cover-ups, and murder highlights the profoundly personal tolls taken by combat while striking at the very heart of the American experience in the Iraqi conflict.
The title of the film is a reference to the historical place where David fought Goliath.