In the Valley of Elah

D

drycreek

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Don't know if this has been discussed but I saw it last night and it was a pretty good flick. Definately worth watching. Tommy Lee Jones was real good in it. I had some questions about how the David and Goliath story applied. I mean I think I get it but I'm not sure.


*Spoilers*


So is the David and Goliath story supposed to mean that we are sending these kids off to war to handle something they just aren't capable of coping with and thus you have all these broken souls coming home? If this is what they were trying to say then I don't really get it. I mean how does David and Goliath apply? David defeats Goliath and goes on to be King and prospers. So I don't see the connection there.

What did I miss? Thanks.
 
I don't remember if Jones's character mentioned that David met Goliath in the Valley of Elah or not when he was telling the story.

I realize you were asking how the story applied and not how the title applies and I think your answer is a good starting point for the allegory.

Here's the review I posted when the movie came out.




Saw "In The Valley of Elah," the latest offering from director/screenwriter Paul Haggis (“Crash”) with my wife and we thought it was pretty good.

The Link

Tommy Lee Jones was excellent in one of his very best roles, giving an Oscar worthy performance IMHO, and Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon were good too.

The movie is a whodunit concerning the disappearance of a soldier who’s just returned from Iraq and along the way it condemns that current war for its effect on the soldiers who serve there, rather than delving into the policies that send them.

Imagine a much more introspective version of “The Presidio” with Sean Connery, Mark Harmon and Meg Ryan or “The General’s Daughter” with John Travolta and Madeleine Stowe or even “A Few Good Men” with Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland, without any courtroom drama or much sex, and add in a definite anti-war slant which is integral to the story and delivered in a matter of fact manner without getting preachy.

The police work moves much more slowly than in an episode of CSI, but it’s interesting and representative of actual crime solving like in “Zodiac” or “In Cold Blood.”

The anti-war message in the final scene is a little over the top, but I felt Haggis and Jones pulled it off well.

Tommy Lee’s understated, minimalist portrayal of a former Army CID investigator, who’s also the father of the missing soldier, is so well crafted and so very believable that I recommend it highly.

It’s believable, it’s well crafted, it’s timely and Jones’ fans, especially, should check this movie out.

It’s not an action movie at all, but it is thought provoking and entertaining, particularly because of the fine acting in all three leading roles.

However, if you didn’t appreciate such films as “Crash,” “Mystic River,” “Courage Under Fire” or “Coming Home” or if you’re not a Tommy Lee Jones fan, you should probably find another flick.

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Thanks for the input. I have to agree with you Tommy Lee Jones extremely subtle performance with better than good it was excellent. It's not something over the top or a vivid character like Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood, it's much more nuianced and subtle and he pulls it off extremely well.

I'm still curious about the title (yes Elah is the valley where David and Goliath met) and how that ties in. I think I understand what there saying but I'm not positive.
 
Spoiler alert - even though this film came out a while ago...

Jones does mention the Valley of Elah when he tells the David vs. Goliath story to Charlize's son. I think the point is reinforced in the final scene when she is re-telling the story and the son says, "Why did David have to fight Goliath? He was just a boy."

That's how I took the title and main theme of the film: these are just boys and so much is asked of them. I think war in general is meant to be Goliath, not Iraq specifically.

This film probably would have done a lot better with a more marketable title. I thought Jones was better in this than No Country.
 
True, but movie Davids (and real life Davids) don't always win. It's not an exact analogy to the original story, but I think it still works in this case. The Jones character probably liked to see his son in a David role, but over the course of the film he realized the story was not playing out as it did "in the valley."
 
What you want out of any movie is room for interpretation and this movie certainly provides that. There is no one answer.

As mentioned above Jones does say the storied fight took place in the Valley of Elah. Is the 'fight' the ones the young boys face when they sign up to fight and are shipped to Iraq and are sent home as men? Is the 'fight' the ones the boys/men face when they return home with all of this baggage? Jones mentions that David won the fight b/c he was able to conquer his fear and the courage this took. In my interpretation the 'fight' is both the fight oversees and the fight back home. In order to defeat the 'goliath' that we face back home we must have the courage to conquer our fear and face the goliath that we have become.

Just sayin'.
 
Either that or the "real" story of David and Golliath has been retold by revisitionist historical winners and the ideals that Jones carried are based on fairy tales.
 
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