and with the war still on and the theme of ptsd post traumatic stress disorder be topical and relevant . shell shock and they use to call it . it be more than shell these day and of course it be the killing of child and innocent which have an appalling and destabilizing effect on the young u. s. men and woman soldier engage in iraq . paul haggis who have make crash amongst other good film and tackle this difficult subject with sensitivity depict the dehumanization of the soldier who come home to an indifferent populace . hank deerfield ( play by tommy lee jones ) be a retired vietnam veteran who investigate the disappearance of his son and come up against the brick wall of military police . a sympathetic detective and emily sander ( play by charlize theron ) slowly take an interest in the case and negotiates with her superior officer to take the case back from the military police who want to brush it under the rug . when mike deerfield be find and dismember and scatter and hank commits himself to get at the truth . this film be not an anti war effort but rather the fact be all present and and one be leave to come to one own conclusion . tommy lee jones give one of his best performance here and a relentless and humourless driven father and who have not be the best father and but doesn not rest until he find the closure he desperately need on the matter of the murder of his son . susan sarandon be totally underused in the part of the mother of mike and but the little we be show of her be rivet . charlize theron play down her beauty to the degree that she wear bandage and bruise on her face through many of the scene and ignore the rampant sexism of her unit . a great performance . i do not care for the valley of elah metaphor which be at the core of the movie itself . the david and goliath story do not have a relevance to a story of ptsd and the horrific effect it have on both perpetrator and victim . so i be leave puzzle at this symbolism . a little guy take on a giant . who would be the little guy . the iraqi . however and that vexation aside and for overall tension and the sheer watchability of mr. jones in a meaty role and this movie get an positive from me .