Beyond the Valley of Elah

David faced Goliath in the Valley of Elah. But Goliath wasn't the only giant he faced in his life. We, too, will face giants when we move beyond the Valley of Elah.

The 2007 movie In the Valley of Elah is a good, though quite sad, movie about the high toll the Iraq War exacted on some American soldiers who survived their tour of duty but came home so emotionally scarred that human life itself, including their own, lost all meaning for them. The movie is based on a true incident that occurred in 2003 in Columbus, Ga.

One scene in the middle of the movie provides the basis for its title. The main character is Hank Deerfield, played by Tommy Lee Jones. Deerfield's son is one of those soldiers who physically survived the war, but he disappeared after getting back to his base in New Mexico. Deerfield, who himself is a retired soldier, has come there to look for his son. When his son's body is found, Deerfield stays, trying to understand what happened.

In that quest, he is helped by a police detective who is a single mother of a young boy. In this particular scene, she has invited Deerfield to her home for supper. Afterward, while she's washing the...