At the Los Angeles press conference for his dramatic film In the Valley of Elah, writer/director Paul Haggis said that his movie is based on two actual incidents, however he preferred not to go into depth about either event so as not to give away too much of the film's plot. That's fair, and totally understandable. His directing follow-up to Crash is a real whodunit and giving away details would spoil the experience for moviegoers.

What is safe to say about In the Valley of Elah is that it follows the story of a retired soldier (played by Tommy Lee Jones) who goes in search of his son after getting a call from son's superiors saying he'd gone AWOL shortly after returning from a tour of duty in Iraq. Charlize Theron co-stars as a police detective from the town right outside of the military base who is drawn into Jones' search for answers. Read On...

• In the Valley of Elah Photo Gallery


• Trailer for In the Valley of Elah

_{(Photo © Warner Independent Pictures)}

Box Office Report - Sep 7-9
Moviegoers are willing to give Westerns a second chance, and that's good news for the gritty drama 3:10 to Yuma. The Russell Crowe/Christian Bale film captured first place at the box office, although its numbers were considerably lower than the figures posted by all the big summer movies. Still, $14 million for a film like 3:10 to Yuma is respectable, and positive word-of-mouth should help keep the movie going strong for a few weeks. Meanwhile the other big release, Shoot 'Em Up, failed to catch on with ticket buyers. The action-heavy comedy will more than likely have to wait until its release on DVD to find its audience.

Top 10 Films Weekend Ending 09/9/07:
1) 3:10 to Yuma - $14,035,033
2) Halloween - $9,513,770
3) Superbad - $7,551,822
4) Shoot 'Em Up - $5,716,554
5) The Bourne Ultimatum - $5,673,850
6) Balls of Fury - $5,652,852
7) Rush Hour 3 - $4,883,334
8) Mr Bean's Holiday - $3,413,785
9) The Nanny Diaries - $3,194,396
10) Stardust - $1,800,127
_{(Photo © Lionsgate Films)}