In the Valley of Elah (2007) Tommy Lee Jones Hank Deerfield Charlize Theron Detective Emily Sanders Jason Patric Lt. Kirklander Susan Sarandon Joan Deerfield Jonathan Tucker Mike Deerfield Brent Briscoe Detective Hodge Joseph Bertot School Janitor Victor Wolf Private Robert Ortiez James Franco Sergeant Dan Carnelli Frances Fisher Evie Tim McGraw Mehcad Brooks Specialist Ennis Long John Wesley Chatham Sargeant Penning Josh Brolin Chief Buchwald Wes Chapman Corporal Steve Penning Barry Corbin Arnold Bickman Wayne Duvall Detective Nugent Greg Serano Detective Manny Nunez Brent Sexton Lt. Burke Zoe Kazan Angie Glenn Taranto Detective Wayne Jennifer Siebel Newsom Jodie Directed by: Paul Haggis Produced by: Emilio Diez Barroso, Erik Feig, Stanley J. Wlodkowski On his first weekend back after serving in Iraq, Mike Deerfield goes missing and is reported AWOL. When Hank Deerfield, a former military MP and his wife Joan get the phone call with the disturbing news, Hank sets out to search for their son. Emily Sanders, a police detective in the jurisdiction where Mike was last seen, reluctantly helps him in his search. As the evidence grows, her missing person's case begins to look more and more like foul play, and soon Sanders finds herself in a fight with the military brass as she and Hank struggle to keep control of the investigation. But when the truth about Mike's time in Iraq finally begins to emerge, Hank's entire world is challenged and he's forced to reevaluate long-held beliefs to solve the mystery behind his son's disappearance. ============== A career officer (Jones) investigates the disappearance of his son (Tucker), an exemplary soldier who went AWOL after his recent return from Iraq. ============== In Monroe, Tennessee, Hank Deerfield, an aging warrior, gets a call that his son, just back from 18 months' fighting in Iraq, is missing from his base. Hank drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico, to search. Within a day, the charred and dismembered body of his son is found on the outskirts of town. Deerfield pushes himself into the investigation, marked by jurisdictional antagonism between the Army and local police. Working mostly with a new detective, Emily Sanders, Hank seems to close in on what happened. Major smuggling? A drug deal gone awry? Credit card slips, some photographs, and video clips from Iraq may hold the key. If Hank gets to the truth, what will it tell him? ============== When Hank Deerfield is told by the military that his son Mike, who only recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, has gone AWOL he travels to the military base to see if he can make any sense of the young man's disappearance. Hank is himself a retired military investigator and is frustrated by both the military and the civilian police's apparent lack of interest in the case. In the end he does manage to get help from Det. Emily Sanders and together they piece together the events that led to Mike's disappearance. In the end, this is a story of how war dehumanizes individuals to the point where the taking of life makes no sense and has no purpose. ============== In 2004, in Munro, Tennessee, the former Sergeant and owner of a tow truck Hank Deerfield tries to contact his son Mike in Fort Rudd after a period serving in Iraq. However, he is informed that his son is missing in the base and has become Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL). Hank drives to the base to search his son and after an interview with the military staff, he is not convinced of the answers; then he goes to the police precinct telling that Mike is a missing person. However, the jurisdictional conflict between the Army and the police associated to a lack of interest in the case leaves Hank in limbo. Detective Emily Sanders feels sympathy for Hank and together they investigated and discover dirty little secrets with an impressive case of dehumanization caused by the invasion and consequent war in Iraq.