In the Valley of Elah

"Underneath its deceptively quiet surface is a raw, angry, earnest attempt to grasp the moral consequences of the war in Iraq" 

"Haggis' script (...) isn't about the war. It's about the humanity being sucked out of the soldiers we send there, and how that process reflects on us as a nation. Yes, Haggis stumbles and loses focus. The haunting, heart-piercing Elah isn't perfect. It's something better: essential. (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of four)" 

"Too self-serious to work as a straight-ahead whodunit and too lacking in imagination to realize its art-film aspirations." 

"In the Valley of Elah is built on Tommy Lee Jones' persona, and that is why it works so well. (...) The movie is about determination, doggedness, duty and the ways a war changes a man. (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of four)" 

"This is a sad, subtle and very good movie, designed not so much to make you think, but to make you feel the impact of large events on little lives."