In the Valley of Elah is too inept and diffuse to be a howl against the war in Iraq. At best, it is a manly whimper.

Written and directed with a two-by-four by that proponent of earnest overstatement Paul Haggis (Crash), it stars Tommy Lee Jones as a former military policeman who retunes his old cop reflexes when his son, back from Iraq, is hideously murdered. Charlize Theron plays the small-town police detective who helps him crack the case after he convinces her that the crime took place on public, not military, grounds.

In the Shadow of the Moon (ThinkFilm) A documentary by David Sington. Rated PG. Time 100 minutes.