The Hurt Locker

Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is a fine depiction of the Iraq War. It's nothing terribly original or deep, but as an exploration of the stress - and thrill - experienced by men fighting a modern war, it's very well-done. Certainly it's better than the other nonsense being nominated for Best Picture this year.

Iraq, 2004. After Thompson (Guy Pearce), the leader of a bomb retrieval team, is killed by an IED, Sergeant James (Jeremy Renner) takes over. Much to the chagrin of his colleagues Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), James is a hot-head who gets a perverse thrill out of defusing bombs and the danger of war. His recklessness constantly gets his team into trouble, leading to inevitable tensions between the three.

Iraq War films are nothing new by now, and The Hurt Locker takes the same road as most other films: by setting it in 2004, it makes it, in effect, a historical piece, somehow distant from current realities and controversies. Despite its grunt's-eye view of things, the movie seems a bit detached, and its characters aren't really developed beyond basic character traits. James is the only character who really registers as an individual, and his character trait is never really explored. The message of "war as a drug" is effectively registered through James, but it would be nice to explore why this were the case, rather than to simply assert that it is.

Aside from these flaws, Hurt Locker is solid. The episodic plot perfectly illustrates the monotony of service in Iraq, where soldiers are ground down by hours of boredom and moments of sheer terror. Our three protagonists' reactions to the war - James's thrill-seeking, Sanborn's stoic acceptance, Eldridge's near-breakdown - are wholly believable. The film is admirably apolitical, not espousing a pro- or anti-war viewpoint, though it acknowledges the unpleasant realities of fighting a counter-insurgency war, with our characters repeatedly antagonizing the locals they're supposedly helping. The movie ends on a wonderfully perverse note, eschewing any resolution; as long we remain in Iraq, our soldiers won't be able to extricate themselves from the shadow of the battlefield.

Bigelow's direction is fine. She eschews big action scenes, replacing the visceral thriller of shootouts with nail-biting suspense as our protagonists defuse bombs, face down potentially hostile locals or stand-off with a sniper. The set-peices build on each other, allowing the tension to escalate throughout, never fading even in the quiet moments. This movie illustrates how to use hand-held "shakycam"; while misused in films like Quantum of Solace and Public Enemies, it's well-employed here, adding to the authentic, gritty feel.

Jerry Renner gives a fine turn, perfectly capturing James's addiction to combat and inability to function away from the battlefield. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are solid as his buddies, just trying their damndest to survive. The more known actors - Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Guy Pearce (Memento), Evangeline Lilly (TV's Lost), David Morse (John Adams) - are confined to cameos.

The Hurt Locker is a very good film, even if it's not the Iraq War's Platoon, as has been suggested. Still, it's better than a certain film by its director's ex-husband, and of the four Best Picture nominees I've seen, it's definitely got my vote.

I'm feeling a bit burned out from all this reviewing of late, so I'm going on break for the rest of the month. See you lot in March!