“In The Valley of Elah,” review by Ella Taylor

What makes Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah — a wildly uneven but brave foray into the dark side of posttraumatic stress disorder — unusual is its focus on parental grief, which Haggis seeks to complicate by asking, What’s the one thing that could be worse than the bottomless sorrow of losing a child who’s a war hero? After Abu Ghraib and Haditha (and My Lai, for those old enough to remember), the question is neither rhetorical nor far-fetched. Read more