THE torment the US suffers fighting the war in Iraq, with many Americans torn between supporting the men and women sacrificing their lives on the ground and the despair of being trapped in a nightmare scenario without easy answers is one that isn't easily tackled on the big screen.
In The Valley Of Elah's triumph is that it presents complicated and intelligent ideas in an articulate, balanced and unbiased manner.
At its heart, the film has a simple story.
After having lost one boy who was killed fighting for America, retired military policeman Sergeant Hank Deerfield (the excellent Tommy Lee Jones) tries to find his other army son who has gone AWOL.
The search is not proving to be an easy one and he seeks the help of an initially reluctant detective (an almost equally good Charlize Theron) to help him.
This is the second film from Crash director Paul Haggis, and while comparisons between the two movies are inevitable and sometimes valid in their style, this is a far superior work.
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This is a compassionate, thought-provoking, intricately constructed film that is beautifully performed throughout and one that is likely to linger long in the memory.
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