In the Valley of Elah

Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (dir. Paul Haggis, 2007).

I'm glad I forgot that Paul Haggis was responsible for 2004's Crash when I watched this. It would have predisposed me to find reasons to hate it. And there aren't really any. It's hard to believe the two films were made by the same director.

So, yes, good movie. Other than that I really have nothing in particular to say about it. Sort of like most Clint Eastwood movies. (As it turns out, Eastwood was originally going to play Tommy Lee Jones' role in this film. Makes sense. It would have been exactly the same, except for the face.) I always enjoy them--even The Bridges of Madison County, somewhat--but I can almost never form a critique of them. They're just too reasonable. It would be like critiquing the perfectly intelligent, slightly old-fashioned guy who lives down the street and takes pretty good care of his lawn. And who would probably shoot somebody if they broke into his house in the middle of the night. Are you going to tell him that would be wrong? I'm not.