The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
A World of Hurt
The Hurt Locker is a movie that creeps up on you. You are so busy being tense and afraid for the actions of a bomb dismantling squad in Iraq that you dont realize how the characters in the story are growing on you. It is only at the end of the film that the full impact of their value hits you head on.
The film starts and immediately you are in the heat of war. A trio of men works to dismantle bombs that are discovered in war torn Iraq. The unit is counting down the days until they are rotated stateside. One of the members drops out of the team and is replaced by Sgt James (Jeremy Renner). He is a cowboy who takes risks in his job but always knows what he is doing.
The other two members of the team are Sgts Sanborn and Eldridge (Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty). It takes time for them to accept the newcomer and his unique ways but eventually the three men bond and go about their work covering each others back.
In this movie there is one crisis after another, and all of the film is shot in a documentary style. Since none of the key actors are that familiar to audiences the three Sgts appear to be real. This is also due to the completely natural style of acting these three men do. They are absorbed by the characters and dont ever let their acting show.
There are familiar faces in the film such as Ralph Fiennes, David Morse and Guy Pierce but they are also so absorbed by their roles that they dont jolt the story. That only happens when Evangeline Lily of Lost fame makes an appearance as James wife. She brings you back to this is a movie awareness.
Director Kathryn Bigelow chooses just the right scenes to move the story forward and to prepare for the impact of the final scenes. There are no sure things in this film. Those you expect to die dont, and those you dont expect do.
The movie is rated R for profanity and violence.
The Hurt Locker is an intense film that will not appeal to all audiences but for those who can take the tension of this wartime story it is an amazing piece of entertainment. Renner should see his acting stock shoot up to the sky based on his performance here. He is totally believable and totally charismatic.
This is a movie that shows the horrors of war but also provides knowledge of how adrenaline junkies get hooked on war. It feeds their need for self worth, love and excitement. Never have I seen a movie that sends this message home so completely.
All involved with The Hurt Locker have done their job completely. They have made a film that is not just good, it is informative and entertaining. If you have the stomach for it, The Hurt Locker is a masterful look at war and its components. This may just be the one movie about Iraq that is a success.
I scored The Hurt Locker an explosive 8 out of 10.
