The Hurt Locker

I'll use director Kathryn Bigelow's own quote from imdb regarding The Hurt Locker, "War's dirty little secret is that some men love it. I'm trying to unpack why, to look at what it means to be a hero in the context of 21st-century combat." And, so goes The Hurt Locker. Before I watched it, I heard that there's no real commentary on the war in Iraq, that it's about a bomb detonator, and just about combat in general. Well, that sold me. I like movies about war. What I like more than movies about war, though, is a movie that does not tell me what to think about war, but shows me the most real moments without backing down. Thank you, Kathryn Bigelow. You had me at Point Break, but The Hurt Locker is an example of the best prose, the best art. It shows you and doesn't tell you.

Of course, there are lots of movies about the aftermath of war or even an inner dialogue of sorts on war (see: Born on the Fourth of July, Saving Private Ryan, or even Upon A Midnight Clear). In a way, The Hurt Locker reminded me more of In the Valley of Elah (starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron), a film about a father who tries to figure out what happened to his son in Iraq. The footage of his m.i.a. son is clips of combat, of life in the desert among insurgents and friendly fire. The Hurt Locker blows that out and stays only in the danger zone. And, there, there's little room for reflection or even doubt.

In The Hurt Locker, we're thrust into the battle. We're in Iraq. There are bombs. The bombs need diffusing. Enter Sergeant Will James (Jeremy Renner). He's fearless in his job, and he gets it done. He's the best in the business. This movie's grittiness is its finest quality. We are totally in it with James, and--I have to say--I was on the edge of my seat. I get what the fuss is all about in regard to how some soldiers get addicted to the rush of war. They fall prey to the inevitable adrenaline rush that comes with risking life and avoiding death. Just watch this movie. Stay with it. I don't know if it will answer any questions about what we are actually doing in Baghdad or how we will ever win this unwinnable situation in which we find ourselves. I don't want to give anything away, but at one point in the movie, James is talking to his baby and he says that as we grow older, we love less and less things. I guess the world would be more satisfying if I thought that the one thing James loved was his baby. Unfortunately, the world is what it is.