The Hurt Locker
War of Terror films have been a dime a dozen since the controversial war started in 2003. The best ones (“Stop-Loss,” “The Kingdom”) find a distinct sense of honor and loyalty to both friend and Country that go beyond simple platitudes to satisfy both the right and left.
Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” is one of the boldest. More than any other film to date, it gives us the most gripping and realistic look at life in the field for this new generation of heroes.
The film starts off with a pulse-pounding scene of Bravo Company trying to disarm an insurgent’s bomb in the Baghdad streets in 2004. But something goes awry, and the bomb technician trying to diffuse it is killed in the process. With less than 40 days to go on their tour of duty, soldiers Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are stuck with a new technician- Staff Sgt. James (Jeremy Renner)- whose penchant for recklessness will make the next several weeks stressful for the three, especially when a disarming with 16 days left leaves James particularly shaken.
Bigelow- who’s directed such action-heavy pics like “Point Break,” “Strange Days,” and “K-19: The Widowmaker” over the years- puts us not just on the front lines with these characters but in their head, seeing the psychological toll their job takes on them when the stakes get raised and a trip home gets closer. The film takes on a lot of the same questions Kimberly Pierce’s “Stop-Loss” did last year, only this time, the drama takes place largely on the battlefield.
Bigelow stages sequence after sequence that grabs the audience and rivals “Saving Private Ryan” and the best war films in suspense and drama, especially when the company finds themselves ambushed (along with a British company led by Ralph Fiennes) in the middle of the desert. It’s here when the animosity between Sanborn, Eldridge, and James starts to wear down, and James shows his true grit as a leader under pressure. The sequences’ technical and dramatic virtues are indicative of the film as a whole, as Bigelow finds the emotional undercurrent of Mark Boal’s lived-in screenplay (he was embedded with a bomb squad), and uses music, cinematography, and editing to show the day-to-day tension her main characters (all the actors are superb in showing how war effects these men of action and compassion) live with. Renner in particular stands out, especially when a child selling DVDs on the street might be one of the victims and a potential “body bomb.” His homecoming with his wife and child offer no solace, leading to a difficult choice that gets to the heart of why our fighting men and women are truly the best we have to offer. Their sacrifice is given tribute in every frame of Bigelow’s exciting thriller.
