Hero Inc.

where heroes are an everyday occurrence

Aug-1-2009

The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker

Based on the reaction I’ve heard from people when I told them I wanted to see this movie, it doesn’t seem to be one that is on many people’s radar even though it is heralded as a “near perfect war film“. The Hurt Locker follows 3 soldiers in Iraq as they perform their duties as a bomb disposal unit. The trailer has a wonderful visualization that is seen in the poster above.

The Hurt Locker is a very good film but it is slow which will bother many people.  The two hour plus timespan does feel like it but you find yourself wanting to finish to see how these characters turn out, particularly Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner). Of course, it’s also fun to see who might pop up next in the movie if you want a few name droppers:  Lord Voldermort (Ralph Fiennes), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Leonard from Memento (Guy Pearce), or Cmdr Adam Beck from The Negotiator (David Morse).

As the movie begins, the presented quote that “war is a drug” really sets the statge for wanting to discover what makes Staff Sergeant James, pardon the pun, tick. Renner doesn’t have long dramatic dialogue but he does have everything he needs to make you understand what is possibly going on in his head.  Why does he face his life ending job with such disregard?  Why does he seem a half a step away from really losing it and making his unit hating the fact that they ever were assigned to each other? So far this has been the best character I’ve seen this year (that’s not saying much) but here’s hoping at least a nomination is in his future.

[Rating: 4/5]

Posted under Movies

Comments

Hong Lee Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:14 pm

It’s like the director extended the Bodhi character from Point Break except they replaced Australia with Iraq and surfing with bombs. I liked how it wasn’t so political and more about the characters involved and how they are affected by war. They could have placed the characters in a different war and had similar outcomes and plot.

The Amateur Critics Guild Says:
March 5th, 2010 at 2:55 pm

[…] Hurt Locker was my first true glimpse of 2009 into an Oscar buzz movie prior to the announcement of the nominations.With one of the top […]

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