When writing for others (Clint Eastwood, the Bond franchise), Paul Haggis delivers one masterpiece after another. When he stepped behind the camera himself (Crash), the result was good, but still lacking something, and though In the Valley of Elah isn't perfect, it represents a huge step forward in the right direction.<br /><br />Realizing Crash's multi-story structure was a strength but also a weakness, Haggis goes for a more linear narrative this time, and chooses a rather controversial subject for it: the Iraq war. But it isn't the conflict itself he's interested in - what he really cares about is how it affects people's conception of the world. In particular, he focuses on Hank Deerfield (the Oscar-nominated Tommy Lee Jones, in a role originally meant for Eastwood), a Vietnam veteran whose faith in American values is tested when he learns his youngest son has gone MIA after returning from a tout of duty in the Middle East. With only the boy's cell phone as a clue, Hank begins to look into the case with the help of a female detective (Charlize Theron) and discovers he might have made the wrong decisions when his son's body is found and his wife (Susan Sarandon) blames him for the death of both their children (the other one was killed in combat).<br /><br />How much have the USA changed since the war in Iraq began? That's the question Haggis tries to answer, but instead of criticizing the armed forces per se, he follows the gradual downfall of Hank's beliefs: early in the film, he chastises a man for hanging the American flag upside down (a gesture that reflects the movie's message: the situation is worse than imagined), only to question his blind trust in society as his investigation comes closer to its harrowing solution. It is Jones' weary eyes and determined voice that carry the picture, and Haggis is wise enough to deviate as little as possible to other story arcs, something he could have avoided altogether: the scenes where Theron is mocked by her male colleagues (Josh Brolin among them) is a tired, totally unnecessary cliché. Furthermore, one might wonder why the director cast a high-profile actress like Sarandon in a rather irrelevant role that doesn't require her to do much but be angry over the phone.<br /><br />Ultimately, though, there is very little to condemn in a courageous picture that hits its target accurately most of the time, especially thanks to a relentlessly moving central performance.<br /><br />8,5/10