People seemed to be shocked that Tommy Lee Jones was nominated for best actor for “In The Valley Of Elah” because no one saw the film. Everyone expected him land a nomination for his role in “No Country For Old Men.”

I actually preferred his performance in the former….a very strong film that didn’t connect with audiences. Perhaps its subject matter of American servicemen committing crimes was too close to home. The story was literally ripped from the headlines.

Tommy Lee Jones has played similar roles before, specifically in his own “The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada.” No one can do gruff, Western sheriff better than he. In “No Country For Old Men” he was the voice of experience -- and of cynicism. He provided some of the humor in that film. But in “Elah,” I was struck by the sadness he managed to convey in his face. The scene on the phone with his wife, (played by Susan Sarandon, in a tiny, but Oscar worthy role!) Is superb. As he tries to hold in his grief and comfort his wife, his years of blind patriotism are called into question. By the end of the film, he has gone from proud military man, to a father who has lost his trust in this country. It’s a quiet, but powerful performance.