89 out of 97 people found the following review helpful:
In The Valley of Elah - UTTER RUBBISH and Tediously SLOW - AVOID!!
A Customer from Wales,
3rd June, 2008
Is this a “damning indictment of the Iraq war”, or does it raise questions of morality, or even, because it is said to be based on a true story, does it tell us anything about Iraq veterans - NO NO NO! This is tripe, masquerading as an expose of “what terrible secrets the soldiers saw and endured in Iraq”. Selling films in an attempt to extract sympathy for Iraq veterans is shameful; and even worse, is expecting us to pay for the incompetent execution of that task, directed with not an ounce of military precision or emotional drama, both of which would be essential - if justice had truly been meant to have been done to the subject matter, and commercialisation not the raison d’être. Why do they make such utter rubbish? A murder mystery or CSI it is NOT - pretentious, resoundingly yes! Tommy Lee Jones must have been desperate to even consider making this film - however, money talks and is a good persuader (sorry about the split infinitive for the purists). The disjointed storyline, which can be condensed into 2 minutes, is about Jones’ son returning from Iraq, goes AWOL, is found dead; and Jones, an ex-MP, uncovers the truth behind his son’s murder - despite lazy and politically motivated Police (military and civilian). The pauses are deafening, and the grindingly slow pace of the film nothing but tedious. You need perseverance, if, after 10/20 minutes, you can be bothered who did what to whom or, even why!! The dialogue is turgid and often pointless - but some may like the 5 minutes taken to watch Jones shave, and cut himself then put tissue on the wrong spot; and even the relentless wastage of superfluous footage (driving, coffee/bar, and office scenes) - more to pad out the film than ever enhance or aid it?
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