In The Valley of Elah

In The Valley Of Elah Story by Mark Boal & Paul Haggis Screenplay by Paul Haggis FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT November 30, 2006 Production completed February 15, 2007 1. In The Valley Of Elah OVER BLACK a man's voice, small, filtered by great distance: MIKE (O.S.) Dad?... Dad? HANK (O.S.) I can hardly hear you. INT. DEERFIELD HOME - HANK AND JOAN'S BEDROOM -- MORNING Start very close on a phone and Hank's ear. CORPORAL VASQUEZ (O.S.) (phone filter) I said your son has gone AWOL. HANK (confused) My son is in Iraq. Widen to see HANK DEERFIELD cradling the phone, sitting on the edge of his bed. You don't have to ask if Hank has seen war, he speaks with the confidence of someone who has been to hell and mapped the terrain. He keeps himself in shape and is not a man who is often caught off guard, which makes his confusion that much more troubling. CORPORAL VASQUEZ (O.S.) Your son was in Iraq, sir. His unit arrived stateside four days ago. HANK Soldier, if my son was back I would sure as hell know about it. JOAN DEERFIELD, Hank's wife, enters to check what's going on. Joan's a good looking woman, younger than Hank. CORPORAL VASQUEZ (O.S.) Sir, Sergeant Carnelli asked me to tell you your son has until Sunday to get back to the base, or he'll be listed as absent. I'm sorry, I have another call. CLICK. Hank hangs up. JOAN Who was that? (CONTINUED) 2. CONTINUED: HANK Some horse's ass. Did Mike email you? JOAN Why on earth would he do that?