It took four years following the end of the Vietnam War for any
filmmaker—specifically Francis Ford Coppola—to be able to
make sense of the sheer madness of the conflict. It almost drove
Coppola insane. The Iraq war doesn’t appear to be ending anytime
soon—and without much distance, the crop of narrative films about
it so far has been relatively unimpressive.
In spite of the lack of historical perspective, Kathryn Bigelow’s
The Hurt Locker manages to be a completely engrossing war film.
Unlike recent Iraq war movies such as Stop-Loss and
Redacted, The Hurt Locker communicates the absolute
insanity, chaos, tension, psychological impact, and sudden brutality of
war without beating you over the head with the war-is-bad stick.
The Hurt Locker follows a three-man explosive ordnance
disposal unit in Iraq as they trudge from bomb site to bomb site,
defusing explosives, all while under constant threat of attack. There
is no villain, the squad members aren’t pithy tough guys, there is no
overarching mission the squad must complete in three acts—their
lone goal is survival.
Bigelow hasn’t lost her flair for staging brilliant action scenes
since directing modern cinema’s finest surf-heist movie, Point
Break, nearly two decades ago. The Hurt Locker‘s numerous
bomb-
disarmament scenes are pants-shittingly tense, and a
cat-and-mouse sniper battle sequence is riveting. Bigelow also draws
impressive performances from a cast of relative unknowns, whose
presence in the film—instead of big-name actors, whose fame
subtly distances them from peril—greatly heightens the tension.
The brief appearances by recognizable faces such as Guy Pearce and
Ralph Fiennes do much to drive this point home.
Unlikely as it seems, the woman who made a career out of directing
Keanu Reeves as a surfing FBI agent and Bill Paxton as a vampire has
churned out what might be the most unnerving, nail-biting, and
engagingly relevant war film in years. 
I saw this at SIFF and it was un-fucking-believable. I don’t generally go in for war flicks, so I was a little hesitant about this one, but I was real glad I saw it. It was one the least political movies about war I’ve ever seen, which I thought really worked for this particular piece. It was almost completely commentary-free: more of a “just-the-facts-ma’am” affair, and that approach pays off big-time. It feels like a documentary most of the time, which wound up making it up even more upsetting and flat-out terrifying than it might otherwise have been. “Pants-shittingly tense” indeed.
Looks awesome. Can’t wait to see it.
I get motion sick with most shaky documentaries. Should I expect the same here or not? Someone help….cause I really want to see this film.
Thanks.
Very very well done…and it did a funny thing to me as well. A scene in the film depicts a character walking through a supermarket after finishing a year long tour in Iraq, and the supermarket was the FIRST thing they show of their homecoming, and it took my breath away. When I finished my year-long tour in Iraq, I don’t even remember much of the flight back or my first few hours. The first thing I remember was setting foot in a grocery store after a year, because brought the strangest feeling washed over me. The scene in the movie captured it perfectly; the bright fluorescent lights, the rows upon rows of endless food choices, and being lost in it all, not remembering how to buy food or navigate such a place. Believe it or not that scene resonated with me better than any scene I’ve seen in cinema in years.
Saw it last evening with some friends and I ended up leaving in the middle. Wasn’t able to connect with the characters and found it to be rather boring. Too bad considering it cost me nearly $10!