As seen at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival:
Forcing the politics of the Iraq War
to sit on the sideline, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker
could only be interpreted as a movie with an agenda if one
construed the age-old “war is hell” theme as anti-war. The film
is an exceptionally engaging dramatization of the day-to-day
operations of the American military specialists who disarm
bombs. In a conflict full of IEDs and homemade weapons, the
characters engage in an extremely dangerous and demanding task,
and The Hurt Locker goes to great lengths to detail the
skill of its central trio. The leader of their squad is Staff
Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner), who works brilliantly under
pressure, sifting through the mechanics of and cutting cords on
the bombs. Despite this, he seems to have a death wish given his
reckless and often irresponsible defiance of protocol when he
thinks there’s a better way to get the job done. Staff Sgt.
James’ subordinates, Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and
Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), are more subdued and
measured.
The Hurt Locker is refreshing
from the get-go in that it removes itself from all the
propaganda and debate concerning the Iraq War and depicts
American soldiers for the incredibly talented, conditioned men
they are. Consisting of one superiorly crafted white-knuckle
action sequence after another, the movie offers an appropriate
assault on the senses, showing the full extent of the insanity
of modern guerilla warfare. The viewer comes to understand that,
in Iraq, any roadside object could be a bomb, and the fear the
characters must overcome to do their jobs properly is enormous.
The film’s depiction of actual combat in Iraq is also
one-of-a-kind; so many films that seek to convince the audience
of what it’s like to fight in Iraq don’t include a single scene
of fighting. In this sense, The Hurt Locker provides the
viewer a respect for the job the military does that supersedes
that of any glib representation of patriotism. Whether the Iraq
War was right or wrong to begin with is never considered, and
the Bush Administration is never mentioned. These guys are there
to do their job, and watching the process is heart-stopping and
immersive.
Beyond the film’s exceptional tech
credits, which use little more than simple sound effects and
claustrophobic camerawork to build tension, the acting in The
Hurt Locker is what makes it so involving. In a performance
that may be nominated for an Oscar, Jeremy Renner walks a
tightrope in making Staff Sgt. James manic enough that he’s
involving on a dramatic level, but never so over-the-top that he
isn’t believable as a real soldier. I would imagine that a guy
credited with disabling nearly 850 bombs would be just like
this, minus James’ disregard for military regulation, which is
mainly used as a device for screenwriter Mark Boal and director
Bigelow to build suspense. At Renner’s side, Mackie and Geraghty
are less frantic—after all, their characters aren’t the ones
touching the bombs—but their work is just as compelling and
authentic. Big names like Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, and
Evangeline Lily also appear and turn in fine performances, but
their screen-time is limited.
The Hurt Locker’s sole misstep
is a sub-plot in its final act, where the story sacrifices
realism for good drama in forcing Staff Sgt. James to sneak off
the base to avenge a death. While gripping in a narrative sense,
this passage reeks of phoniness and betrays the prior realism of
the material, stopping the picture short of greatness. But for a
largely respectable, edge-of-your-seat look at some of the
American military’s most valuable, adept members, viewers will
do no better than The Hurt Locker, not your average Iraq
War movie by any means.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 3.23.2009
Screened on: 3.17.2009 at the
Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX.
