The Hurt Locker (***1/2)

Of the several movies about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is the one that seems most basic in its storytelling. No-nonsense might be the best adjective to describe both the story by Mark Boal and the cool direction by Kathryn Bigelow. Simply, it follows a team of three soldiers whose job it is to defuse IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and other bombs. The three men are, roughly, the worried one, the regular guy, and the cowboy. The cowboy is Jeremy Renner, who gives a terrrific performance as the team leader/explosives expert. His reckless bravado causes tension with the other two, aside from tension caused by explosives and hostile Iraqis with rifles.

I’ve read that some of the technical aspects of the movie were inaccurate, but I’ve seen no better depiction of the (justified) paranoia and stress that must grip soldiers to whom every civilian is potentially a threat and every moment potentially their last. It vaguely reminded me of The Kingdom, about FBI agents in Saudi Arabia, except that the 2007 thriller ultimately opted for sensationalism, and this never does. Unlike most thrillers, I didn’t have a clear feeling about which of the men would make it to the end of the movie unscathed.

Even more than In the Valley of Elah (inspired by a Boal magazine piece), Stop-Loss, Brothers, and most of the other films that relate to the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq, The Hurt Locker focuses on the experience of the American soldier. This is both its strength and its limitation. Three Kings, the great film about the last American invasion of Iraq, the 1991 Gulf War, encompassed the political aspects of the conflict and the views of the Iraqis themselves. Here, the views of ordinary Iraqis only come up briefly, and then only insofar as they provide a plot point for the Americans. It may be possible to take a pro- or antiwar message from the movie, but basically it is studiously apolitical. It’s never even mentioned what the American mission might be, only that bombs must be defused.

The film’s narrow focus and somewhat detached view of its characters may make the movie seem monotonous. Only in the case of Renner’s character do we get more than the barest glimpse of life outside Iraq. It’s an extremely effective portrait of a certain kind of soldier, and provides the only moments in the movie that can be called poignant. In general, Bigelow sticks to a quasi-documentary, monochromatic style with only a little bit of music. Very effective, but not what comes to mind when you hear the term “war movie.”

IMDB link

viewed at Ritz Bourse 2/13/10 and reviewed 2/13/10–18