In the Valley of Elah Critic Reviews

However you judge the movie’s politics, and whatever its flaws, there is something inarguable, something irreducibly honest and right, about Mr. Jones’s performance.Read the full review

A rare blend of emotional content and intelligent material that makes it simultaneously gut-wrenching and thought-provoking.Read the full review

The last scene of In the Valley of Elah may be the most ridiculously ham-fisted and over-the-top moment in all of 2007’s supposed prestige cinema.Read the full review

The more I thought about it, the less I liked what it turned out to be -- a vague promise unkept.Read the full review

The characters in this somber film have the glum look of individuals delivering a Very Important Message to the world. And though this film in fact does have something crucial to convey, this is not the way to go about it.Read the full review

A deeply reflective, quietly powerful work that is as timely as it is moving.Read the full review

Where "Crash" relentlessly pushed every conflict to a fever pitch, Elah takes its cues from Tommy Lee Jones' low-simmering lead performance.Read the full review

It's the first Hollywood Iraq movie to remind me of a Vietnam film like Coming Home, and it does more than disturb. It scalds, moves, and heals.Read the full review

The haunting, heart-piercing Elah isn't perfect. It's something better: essential.Read the full review