The Hurt Locker (2009) (R)

The Hurt Locker (2009) (R)
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Bryan Geraghty, Evangeline Lilly

Daddy Says:

Some jobs you pray you never have to do. Disarming a live bomb is probably at or near the top of the list. The Hurt Locker is an incredible portrait of the military's most unrecognized heroes. It follows a three-man squad who are assigned to sniff out and disarm IEDs in Iraq. A hard enough job to do under the best of circumstances, it's made even more difficult by the constant threat of sniper fire from the surrounding buildings, or even in the open desert. Jeremy Renner stars as William James. Called a "wildman" by a Colonel who sees him in action, he has disarmed over eight hundred explosives, but has developed an addiction to the adrenaline rush he gets while working. Anthony Mackie and Bryan Geraghty play his support team, who watch his back while he works, and try to get him to bail out when the situation gets too risky. Evangeline Lilly from TV's Lost has a brief role as James' ex-wife back home.

The Hurt Locker is incredibly riveting. Even at 131 minutes, it never feels like it's dragging. I was absorbed from the opening moments to the closing credits. It's well-acted by everyone (including cameos from David Morse, Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pierce). It's also very action-packed, more than you might think in a movie about a guy who knows which is the right wire to cut. Director Kathryn Bigelow does an amazing job at capturing what it must feel like for these soldiers having to deal with the constant, daily threat of instant death, while still trying to retain some emotional connection to each other and their loved ones back home.

If I hadn't already seen Pixar's Up, I would say this was the Best Picture of 2009. As it is, and since Up has very little chance of winning anything besides Best Animated Feature at this Sunday's Academy Awards, I know which film I'm going to be rooting for to win the big prize.

Rating for The Hurt Locker: ****3/4

Daughter Says:

The first thing I have to say is that this movie is probably the best war movie I've seen since Saving Private Ryan. Everybody gives praise to Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbor, but I give two thumbs up for this awesome, adrenaline pumping movie.

It really brought out what war really is and it gave me a whole other perspective on war. It even showed me what the soldiers in Iraq are really having to go through almost every day.

This movie thoroughly impressed me but I found one flaw. I didn't quite understand the part with Evangeline Lilly, because it felt kind of pointless. I thought you could probably take that part out and you could learn more about James. He was reckless and a "wildman". It would have been nice to learn why this was so.

You shouldn't let this stop you from watching this amazing film.

I give this one a ****1/2.