"The Hurt Locker" review

The Hurt Locker

****Four Stars****

Robert E. Lee once said, "It is well that war is so terrible; otherwise we should grow too fond of it." I could not help but think of that while watching Katheryn Bigelow's Iraq War film, The Hurt Locker.

The film follows a highly specialized group of soldiers called the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD). They search for and try to defuse explosive devices on the battlefield in Iraq. Bigelow drops us right into the action where an EOD squad is clearing the streets while looking for an IED. Sergeant Thompson (Guy Pearce) is killed after the bomb is detonated due to the hesitation of an emotionally disturbed soldier, Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). Enter Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), a renown bomb disarmer who acts more like a cowboy than a soldier. He is an adrenaline junkie who gets his high off of diffusing highly intricate and dangerous explosive devices. James buts heads with Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), a by-the-books sergeant who is put off by James's renegade style. Most of the film shows the squad in intense situations diffusing bombs. We also get a fantastic sniper sequence in which a military contract team (one played by Ralph Fiennes) and the squad are ambushed by Iraqi insurgents.

The entire film puts you on the edge of your seat. From the first explosion to the last, there is nail biting suspense. How can you get more suspenseful than disarming a bomb? Writer Mark Boal portrays the affects of war on different soldiers. James uses war as a drug, whereas Eldridge has difficulty dealing with the brutal realities of combat. In the middle is Sanborn, a soldier who is good at what he does, but does it out of necessity rather than pleasure.

I am reminded of the great war epic, Patton, in which we see the contrasts in the leadership. General George S. Patton (George C. Scott) loves war with all of his heart, and finds peacetime to be an unsuitable life. General Omar Bradley fights because he is good at it, but at the end of the day, he does it because it is his job.

Bigelow, a veteran director of action flicks, does a tremendous job of combining highly emotional drama and violent action together. It's a subject that, in the wrong hands, could have been treated as a political statement or mindless blow 'em up action film. The film manages to stay neutral, choosing to show the realities of a modern war.

Jeremy Renner gives a stand out performance in the lead role, giving an emotional sensibility to a character who doesn't flinch on the battlefield. James is a man who is totally comfortable while handling a device that could blow him to bits, but in civilian life he just cannot adjust.

I fully expect this film to be given a wider release, and hopefully it will get serious consideration come Oscar season. I will make two bold claims:

1. The Hurt Locker is the best movie of 2009.
2. It is the best war film of the decade (beating out in no particluar order: Joyeux Noel, We Were Soldiers, Black Hawk Down, Days of Glory, No Man's Land, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Downfall, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters From Iwo Jima)