The Hurt Locker

It's not the job you want your kids to aspire to. Or your spouse. Or anyone you care about. But we are so thankful there are people who do this.

This sad tale is centered on the unique skills of the tragically necessary field of bomb technician. Bomb techs, of course, are those heroic individuals who get called when a bomb or other explosive device is discovered. Their job, under life and death pressure daily, is to defuse the bomb and make things safe for the rest of us. Unfortunately, in war environments, this is a daily occurrence. What kind of person can do this kind of work? How do they do it day in and day out? Someone has to be a little crazy to do this in the first place, don’t they? These are the questions this movie explores. The movie evokes sadness, inspiration, sympathy, concern, and even awe as we watch the heroes of this movie struggle with their daily grind.

This is a different kind of war movie for a different kind of war that ultimately fails in the same ways the war fails - in that it lacks a singular focus, it has no direction or goal, and the purpose is not clear. It's not a bad movie, I just couldn't find anything to connect to or engage with - and when a moment would arise in which I thought that thing to connect to was coming... it didn't.

The film drags along at a snail's pace at times, which works for some scenes, such as a great scene wherein the main characters are pinned down for several hours by insurgents in the middle of the desert - but mostly the slowness just feels slow. There is no real story here, yet it isn't just a docudrama, either. It doesn't seem to know what kind of a movie it is, or from which characters' view point it is being told. In my opinion the story that it started to tell (and would have made it a much more interesting film) was of the drug-like addictive nature of high risk behavior, and how people who engage in that sort of thing in war will return to civilian life only to find other dangerous, high risk behavior to engage in... which is not dissimilar thematically to another of director Kathryn Bigelow's films, "Point Break". Alas, it seemed as if she forgot about that angle halfway thru the film. The worst part of the film is the ending, which after 125 minutes of slow pacing suddenly races past what should have and could have given the film its purpose.

If I had seen this film back when it first came out, I think I would have said, "OK. A well-acted, decent film despite its problems." The thought that this film would be nominated for and would win so many major awards, including being the front runner for any Oscar whatsoever -- would not have even crossed my mind, and it is mindboggling to me now that that is the case.

OK, I enjoyed watching it and it showed us something of what faces the IED dismantling teams in Iraq. But, I heard from a reliable source, ie someone who has actually served out there that it is grossly overplayed and the key character, I hesitate to call a hero is way over the top. This reminded me of Black Hawk Down in feel and I actually enjoyed the tension of the earlier movie better.

I have to say, this looks like a typical Oscar political win, because they needed to give a female director the nod this year - it's like the year that Halle Berry, Denzel Washington and Sidney Poitier all got awards! A lot of people were up in arms because Avatar did not win best film, but I thought that District 9 and Inglorious Basterds were both better films than this rather pedestrian war flick.

War movie lovers... Your search ends here.

When I saw this movie, I found I have ended up watching not only the movie but something more than that. The Director Kathryn Bigelow has been fully able to depict the psyche of Bomb disposal squad and their breathtaking game. Though the movie lacks a firm story line up but here it is not needed. Breathtaking sequences, one by one, is the hallmark of the movie.In a war trodden place like Iraq, all aspects of war-psyche has been exploited to give meaning to the daredevils (Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie) and their work of disposing the bombs. The chemistry between the duo has also been fully depicted. The Director has not forgotten the emotional angle and the arouses definite kind of emotions and make you think after every sequence.

Though some sequences remind you of "Enemy at the gates" but rest assured the movie in itself is masterpiece.

With its subtle climax the movie wins more on account.

Worth watching flick........

I liked this movie very much because, apart from being a good thriller, I believe it is a quite good psychological comment of how people function under extreme circumstances such as war.

Basically the movie introduces few different types of character and then inspects them. Firstly SSgt. James who as he says "loves only one thing..". He is a person who loves war because it gets his adrenalin pumping. Anybody who ever loved doing anything can easily understand what keeps him going, except in his case it is something, hm..., not so nice and widely excepted. This results in creating extremely dangerous situations for all the people (soldiers) that surround him. He is aware of that, and is torn by that fact but he really cannot help himself, he has no choice because he is the way he is. He seeks danger on one end, and when he finds it, he appears to be the best person to be around. A nice touch in the movie was the way in which he tries to rationally "validate" his actions by taking a righteous stand regarding the death of an innocent (not to go into the details)...

Other soldiers are a wide specter of human beings with feelings of regret, fear, compassion etc.. The people who are very much affected by the war and are changed by it. Two supporting roles of Sgt. Sanborn and Spc. Eldridge are well placed in contrast to SSgt. James for being "human". Acting is great, and all the important characters convey their state of mind very well. David Morse was in the movie for just a few seconds and played his role of a "hillbilly cowboy" marvelously as Col. Reed.

A really good movie...