This film is about a veteran taking matters into his own hands when his son, who returned recently from Iraq, disappeared mysteriously.<br /><br />"In the Valley of Elah" captivated me throughout the film. Both Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron gave very good performances. I was a little disappointed to see Susan Sarandon's role being so small, but Sarandon did show her acting skills in the short amount of time allocated to her.<br /><br />The plot is a hybrid of crime thriller and emotional drama. The balance is done well, and I kept wanting more of the plot to unfold. As to the backdrop of the story, Mike Deerfield need not to have been a soldier at all. I guess the filmmakers made him a returning soldier was a subtle message about how war changed people. Mark changed to become a disturbingly cruel person, and his mates was remarkably unashamed about Mark's war crimes. It's a very subtle anti-war message, hidden carefully without being like a propaganda, which is rather unlike the anti war message in "Home Of The Brave".<br /><br />"In the Valley of Elah" is a powerful film. I liked it a lot.