Susan Sarandon
In the Valley of Elah
(2007)
Paul Haggis (screenplay), Mark Boal (story), Paul Haggis (story)
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 14 nominations.
In Monroe, Tennessee, Hank Deerfield, an aging warrior, gets a call that his son, just back from 18 months' fighting in Iraq, is missing from his base. Hank drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico, to search. Within a day, the charred and dismembered body of his son is found on the outskirts of town. Deerfield pushes himself into the investigation, marked by jurisdictional antagonism between the Army and local police. Working mostly with a new detective, Emily Sanders, Hank seems to close in on what happened. Major smuggling? A drug deal gone awry? Credit card slips, some photographs, and video clips from Iraq may hold the key. If Hank gets to the truth, what will it tell him?
The Lovely Bones
(2009)
Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay), Peter Jackson (screenplay), Alice Sebold (novel)
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 42 nominations.
Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.