The Hurt Locker (2008)

Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Written by: Mark Boal
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes 
Rated: R

I suppose that for the time being director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal have created the film about the war in Iraq. Explosive, unsentimental and breathtakingly suspenseful, "The Hurt Locker" at long last proves that girls can direct, war films need no narration, and that their stories are filled with people, not caricatures.

The newness of the Iraq War leaves it something still too slippery yet to grasp. We know what it was that made up the Civil War, the Great War, Vietnam--but for the conflicts whose repercussions are still being felt we have had no real time to pause and reflect, not simply but especially because those pieces are still falling into place. I don't believe that there will ever be a movie made on it in which some hulking monster utters "The horror...the horror", but horrors still abound in their adaptive, technological forms.

An elite bomb-diffusing squad in one of the most violent places on Earth navigates its way through winding streets, hunting down and diffusing IED's which can look like almost anything and be placed almost anywhere. A blistering opening scene graphically details that process, culminating in the death of the squads current sergeant first class. We at home are bombarded with news reports and images of bombs detonated every day that the death toll becomes almost numbing. Bigelow has now thrust it into our faces in all of its harsh reality without the forgivingness of men in clean suits detailing the events with cold, posh accents.

Replacing the fallen soldier is SFC William James (Jeremy Renner) who comes on to train his other two memebers, Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), with his own personal methods. Without remorse, James' character is what we comfortable, intellectual leftists fear that the lower 10% who make up our armed forces are: he is the adrenaline junkie. James is a man who has too much testosterone and not enough conscience, one who places his personal safety and that of his unit at risk with his reckless, arrogant behavior. Entering danger zones with disregard and air of self-absorbed confidence, he ignores protocol in order to inch himself that much closer to death.

Sanborn and Eldridge must learn to cope with their sergeant's lack of feeling, and in doing so they are transformed. That last line seems rather trite, but there is nothing trite about this film. It is an intensive exploration of the nature of camaraderie which is challenged by the supremely stressful environment that puts these men's lives in daily peril. And all of this is wrapped up in some of the most astonishingly directed sequences of the decade.

I remember the first time watching this movie in the theater and feeling that palpable inhale-exhale of the audience during the bomb diffusing scenes; those are the moments that I go to the movies for. I also remember leaving that cinema with a burning hatred for Renner whom I then felt to be on of the most infuriating actors I had ever watched. For years I have bad-mouthed this film simply because of him, completely disregarding the near-perfect direction of the movie as a whole.

This is now my third viewing, and I finally realize that perhaps I was wrong the whole time. Maybe the film is made that much better because I hate Renner's performance. He isn't a bad actor necessarily, but that perpetually smug look he has on his face compliments the ugly character he plays almost too well. The story eliciting such a strong reaction from me--negative though it may be--might have been just what Bigelow wanted. If that's the case then "The Hurt Locker" is a work of art.

One day I believe something will come along which will supplant it's position as the great Iraq film. After all, many vets can't stand it for its inaccuracies. But until that time it is an intelligent and seemingly honest depiction of what this war may be for us in the future: a battle of brains over brawn. Who can outwit whom first? The undying question.

3.5/4