In an effort to acclimate myself with some of the less-known movies to be honored at this year's Academy Awards, I headed to Blockbuster to pick up the limited-release suspense gem “The Hurt Locker”. By the time you read this, I'm sure most of you will have heard about this film and its Avatar-tying nine Oscar nominations, in such major categories as Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay. Kudos to those who have actually seen it, however, as I only remember spying it on the marquis of the occasional two-screen indy theater and had heard literally nothing about it during its short run. Since then, it's become one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, and deservedly so.
This military action/drama focuses on a bomb disposal squad in the streets of Baghdad, and their new addition, Staff Sgt. William James, played by Jeremy Renner. James' nature is essentially summed up in the movie's opening quote: “War is a drug”. He's an adrenaline junky who's more than a little bit irreverent to military protocol, and his unique job gives him the opportunity to practice his virtuoso improv skills on the most dangerous of instruments: a live, ticking, explosive. But to say that James is nothing more than a reckless addict is to deny the depth of his character revealed through the occasional reassurance of a terrified squad mate, and his connection with an Iraqi boy selling pirated DVDs.
Throughout the movie, perspective is kept with a countdown of Sgt. James' days remaining until he gets to return home to his wife and child. When it runs to zero, we get a glimpse of his home life, and how truly out of place he feels there. Suffice it to say he's back where he belongs, playing the instrument he loves in no time.
Aside from Jeremy Renner's Oscar-worthy performance, I would also give Katherine Bigelow the honors for her brilliant directing. She instills every new challenge to the squad with an unnerving suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat whether something ends up going terribly wrong or not. As an audience for these situations, we are usually joined by a mixed crowd of Iraqi civilians and the insurgent bomb-designers themselves, all as intrigued as we are to see how this team deals with the increasingly elaborate explosives.
I recommend this movie if you want to know exactly how it would feel to have the most dangerous job in the world; to know what it's like to strap on an eighty pound Kevlar bomb suit and walk, slowly and alone, down an empty Baghdad street towards an unknown, elaborate explosive device; to feel the eyes of the insurgent onlookers in high towers and the sweat pour down your face as you attempt to disarm this possibly timed, particularly sensitive bomb; and if you make one mistake, a bad step, a flick of the finger, you will feel the dust literally rise off the ground the instant before the shock wave throws you off your feet and all over the landscape.
I give this movie two thumbs up and I definitely recommend you find it on DVD, preferably before the Academy Awards (March 7th) so you can be appropriately outraged when it gets robbed by Bigelow's ex-husband James Cameron and his “Avatar”.
As always, if you want to give your opinion or just talk movies, please email me at dgleesonprata@gmail.com
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