Review of The Hurt Locker (2008) by Thomas B — 30 Jan 2015

The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug. .

From the very first scene of this film, it's clear that it's a cut above the cookie cutter action films which Hollywood pumps out on assembly lines nowadays. Just how far is unclear until further along in the film, but if the first scene isn't enough to grip you like a vice, I don't know what is. .

Staff Sergeant William James, played with beautiful restraint by Jeremy Renner, is a bomb tech in Iraq, not the best combination. However, unlike most normal people, Will finds bombs a rush, a thrill, almost a turn-on. Each time he goes out, it seems as though he's having more fun than at any point in time. This becomes even more apparent towards the end of the film, where he tries to connect with his wife and child by telling them horror stories of Iraq. He fumbles with his other relationships, with his wife, with his team members, with the local kid selling dvds, though he's solid as a rock when it comes to being less than a foot from a live explosive. Renner plays this role pitch perfect the whole way through the film, whether he's calling his wife or lighting up what might as well be a post-coital cigarette after a hair raising, nail biting experience with a bomb. .

The film, though it's war film, steers clear of the politics of why the troops are there in the first place, opting instead to show what's happening to the boys who are over there. And how perfectly it shows this, from Sanborn's emotional breakdown after a particularly harrowing experience (to say any more would mean spoilers), to James' loss of composure during a house raid, the script is a perfect balance between smarmy and heartbreaking. .

Brian Geraghty's performance as Specialist Owen Eldridge is worth a special mention. Every time he's onscreen he inhabits his character entirely. When he tells his psychologist what's playing on his mind and when he mourns the victims of a bomb blast, he is perfect in both situations. .

But it is the set pieces which make the movie the movie which may actually beat Avatar. Each one is gripping, a thriller movie in itself where the outcomes are unclear, everyone is a suspect and every moment could be someone's last. The movie does little more than follow the everyday movements of Bravo company, but each day is more intense than the last. And the ending is perfect. There could be no other option for how this film could finish. In fact, I would have felt cheated if everyone had lived happily ever after, and the fact that you left wondering not only how crazy Will really is, but whether his luck is still within the best before date. .

Defining Scene: .

An illegally parked car sparks a whole set of problems. Or the one where case hardened steel causes a major incident.