Themes too scattered in 'Valley of Elah'

Oscar-winning writer-director Paul Haggis (Crash) directs another social-message movie. This time, Haggis bases his film on a true story as commentary on the war in Iraq.

Tommy Lee Jones brilliantly plays retired military policeman, Hank Deerfield, who is investigating his son's disappearance following the boy's return from fighting in Iraq. Deerfield travels to the base and becomes skeptical of the entire event.

Deerfield then goes to the local police and confronts detective Emily Sanders, played by Charlize Theron. She refuses to cooperate with him because she says that the missing solider is the Army's concern. Soon after, the police find the missing soldier's mutilated body outside the base. Detective Sanders decides to take this case out of pity for Deerfield, whom she had ignored earlier.

Haggis nicely directs this unfolding murder mystery. Deerfield works as a vigilante and does his own investigating; he takes his son's phone and pays someone to unscramble the media files. He also travels with detective Sanders to topless bars, fast-food restaurants, and the crime scene, attempting to inch closer to finding the killers.

While all this investigating occurs, Deerfield receives pieces of his son's cell-phone videos that were recorded when he was in Iraq, telling a deranged story about the son's life abroad. The meanings behind these videos bear no significance until the end, when Haggis finally ties all the elements together.

Yet, when Haggis tries to put it all together, the pieces don't seem to fit. The title of the film refers to the biblical battle between David and Goliath. The film interprets the story as a young boy who conquers his fear to take down a giant. Deerfield claims David won the battle by luring his fear close enough so he could take it down.

This metaphor doesn't apply to anyone in the movie, though. Who is facing their fears and who is the enemy? These questions are never answered.

Haggis places anti-war themes that come from nowhere in a plot that has very little to do with the Iraq War itself and is more based on a murder mystery.

Haggis loves to write films about political events without mentioning the politics behind the event. His movies revolve around the people who become affected by these events.

This time, he makes too big of a stretch by applying Iraq to his murder mystery. Nevertheless, he still makes a pretty interesting and thought-provoking film. B