There is a remarkable absence of polemic in this film which elevates it to something mythic...perhaps distills the subject matter to something we should face. No one should be able to fault the performances here, but I was most impressed with the director's careful avoidance of political point of view. It's the opposite of what, say, Costa-Garvas did with "Missing." There are no speeches or lectures, but watching illusions and faith in old systems being peeled away is very powerful. And very, very sad.<br /><br />We need this film (whether we like it or not). Abu Ghraib happened. And not accepting the moral consequences leads us to a very troubling conclusion.<br /><br />Tommy Lee Jones is amazing here. Susan Sarandon, in a small part, makes a vivid presence. Charlize Theron seems miscast (would a woman this beautiful and smart be in this job?), but she adds another fine character to her work.<br /><br />While there is a very interesting texture to the film, that is, cell phone movies are used to move the plot forward, and what we see is not quite clear so we want to find out more, just like the characters in the action, Haggis chose to withhold crucial information from the audience until the end of film. I'm not sure that strengthens the film's structure. We're left with a lot to process in the final moments, and had we known what the central character knew from the beginning, our journey with him might have had deeper resonance, his motives and internal conflicts clearer.<br /><br />I hope people see this. I know that this war has always divided our nation. But the men and women who fought or fight there need to have this story told. We've made our predicament unfairly theirs. It's a very unhappy thing and congratulations seem out of place. But the filmmakers and performers deserve admiration and our thanks.