In the Valley of Elah
Warner Independent Pictures (WIP) | Release Date: September 14, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
However you judge the movie’s politics, and whatever its flaws, there is something inarguable, something irreducibly honest and right, about Mr. Jones’s performance. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
In the Valley of Elah is too inept and diffuse to be a howl against the war in Iraq. At best, it is a manly whimper. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Great actors can do more than carry a movie on the strength of their performances: They can also elevate it to a height it does not necessarily merit, and for much of In the Valley of Elah, Tommy Lee Jones does exactly that. Read full review
50
VarietyRobert Koehler
Too self-serious to work as a straight-ahead whodunit and too lacking in imagination to realize its art-film aspirations. Read full review
50
Village VoiceElla Taylor
Elah comes packaged as a feverish murder mystery groaning beneath too many subplots and the added weight of a strained David and Goliath allegory. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The more I thought about it, the less I liked what it turned out to be -- a vague promise unkept. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The characters in this somber film have the glum look of individuals delivering a Very Important Message to the world. And though this film in fact does have something crucial to convey, this is not the way to go about it. Read full review
50
PremiereGlenn Kenny
In my cut of the film, it ends after Jones opens the parcel from his son that's been sitting on his kitchen table since shortly after he left. I recommend viewers leave the theater at that point. You won't be sorry that you did. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The movie chickens out. In the Valley of Elah could have been really interesting -- and really daring -- if it had focused on Hank's realization that his own child, supposedly a good kid, had perhaps committed the kinds of atrocities that would make any decent human being recoil. The movie (which Haggis also wrote) dances around that territory, but doesn't dare to march straight into its terrifying maw. Read full review
40
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Haggis also appears to have no respect for his audience. At its crudest, the film settles for agitprop...it's no Hollywood guy's call, particularly as he's extrapolating from a single case that could have occurred anywhere, at any time. Read full review
More From This Movie

65 Critic Reviews

7.4 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 63 Normal
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL