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So as you know, I stopped writing lengthy reviews on this site this year, keeping the blog as more of a film diary of sorts.  Lo and behold,...

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Movie Review - The Hurt Locker (2009)

Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, David Morse, and Ralph Fiennes
Written by Mark Boal

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Whether you support the war in Iraq or not makes no difference to the filmmakers behind The Hurt Locker. They simply want to present what really happens to our courageous soldiers who risk their lives daily. It was a rather refreshing take and it made the flick play out as an action-suspense thriller rather than a message movie. [As surprising as this may be to those who know my Republican leanings, I'm not opposed to message movies, by the way. The two-year old In the Valley of Elah was a stunningly good look at post-war depression told in a fascinating way.]

Jeremy Renner is Staff Sergeant William James who is one of the army's best bomb diffusers. James and the two other soldiers in his Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit who serve as James's help and protection -- Sergeant JT Sanborn (Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Geraghty) -- go out on seemingly daily missions across Iraq diffusing a variety of different explosive devices. The flick is essentially a series of the various missions this EOD unit undertakes, but we also get glimpses into the different personalities of these three men.

Renner is fantastic. His James appears to be the strong one in the unit, but he's addicted to the adrenaline rush of diffusing bombs and also finds himself emotionally involved in helping the Iraqi people. There's one scene in particular where he breaks down after being so resolute that really got to me. Anthony Mackie is also great as Sanborn who doesn't take well to Sgt. James's approaches to diffusing EOD's. Similarly, Brian Geraghty's Eldridge is certainly emotionally unstable after having witnessed the death of a fellow soldier, and Sgt. James's gung-ho and reckless techniques don't sit too well with him. Geraghty was absolutely my favorite supporting character here. There wasn't a bum note in his performance which had to range from courageous to utterly frightened. I really loved it.

The star of the show, though, is Kathryn Bigelow's stellar direction. This flick is edge-of-your seat exciting and Bigelow is the one responsible for that. While she employs the shaky cam that has become so popular as of late, she doesn't overuse the method. In fact, my favorite scene of the film -- an hours-long showdown in the Iraqi desert that occurs about halfway through the flick -- is full of long pauses and absolutely has the feeling of tedium and weariness thanks in part to Bigelow's direction (and it's also helped immensely by the three actors I mentioned above).

I don't really want to ruin the movie for anyone, but I did have a problem with one particular vignette in the film. Sgt. James seeks revenge after a particular incident occurs and I honestly didn't buy it completely. It's not that I didn't understand the motivation behind it (I certainly understood it), but I just have my doubts that it would ever really happen. Without the extra ten minutes depicting this "event," the flick would've been a little more taut and would've been as close to a perfect movie as one could get.

Despite that one flaw, the film, as I said above, is nearly perfect. With spot-on performances, believable dialogue, three great performances, and some of the best direction I've seen in a long time, The Hurt Locker is an exciting piece of filmmaking that shouldn't be missed.

The RyMickey Rating: A-

5 comments:

  1. "The two-year old In the Valley of Elah was a stunningly good look at post-war depression told in a fascinating way.]"

    Except for the last damn shot.


    Anyway that's basically what I think about it.

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  2. I couldn't think of the last shot last night when I read this, but this morning I woke up and remembered that ridiculous upside-down flag.

    I agree that the shot was ridiculous...still enjoyed the movie.

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  3. I throughly enjoyed this movie despite sitting there at parts going I hate this movie. But lets be honest, I think it was just nerve wrecking. And I could have done without the really long sniper scene. Also, so was that the kid who sold the dvds with the body bomb or some other kid? I got confused. But overall, I really did enjoy the apoliticalness of it, but I can't imagine the Army is to happy with the drinking and the whore house stuff. but whatever, still really good.

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  4. Amanda - The sniper scene in the desert was my favorite part, although my brother said the same thing as you, so I'm likely alone in that opinion.

    And the kid, Beckham wasn't dead...it was some other kid. Beckham is seen later in the movie trying to play soccer with the main guy.

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  5. I liked the sniper part a lot.

    But I also love any sniper scene in any movie. (Thus my odd love for Enemy at the Gates)

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