"The Hurt Locker" is intense, thrilling, unsettling and probably the best movie of the year. Why did I wait so long to watch it? Not a fan of war movies in general but this is fantastic.
It is a real portrayal of a few men at war. Living at the edge between life and death and how they get through that. Jeremy Renner is a revelation as Sgt. James the leader of the bomb squad. James is full of bravado and dangerous according to his squad-mates. But he has to be to survive this situation : going in to defuse a dozen bombs every day. The movie takes you inside his mind, you get to see where he gets his courage but also how unhinged he can become. Frighteningly real portrait. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are equally good as the two other squad members. The former a cautious by the book man who is hoping to get through the last 38 days of his mission. The latter a scared young man who knows all too well that he can die at any second.
This movie is awesome. Actually merits using that ubiquitous and awful word. Kathryn Bigelow has made the best movie about the war in Iraq. Although its themes are not particular to that war but universal. It does not comment on the politics of this war but rather tells the story of the everyday minutiae of surviving any war.
I left the theatre exhilarated, moved and thoughtful. This is a very smart movie. See it now.
1 comment:
Kathryn Bigelow has made the best movie about modern war, not just Iraq. Period.
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