A Review of The Hurt Locker

My wife and I saw "The Hurt Locker" yesterday afternoon. We were attracted to this movie for two reasons. First, my wife's son has done two tours in Iraq and is now in Afghanistan, and second, we enjoyed Jeremy Renner's work in the TV show "The Unusuals." I obtained additions facts from The Internet Movie Database.

"The Hurt Locker" is a high impact movie about a three-man bomb disarming team working in Baghdad in 2004. This movie has no specific message other than the nightmare of war. The bomb disarming team of Bravo Company loses their leader, and main bomb man, with thirty-nine days left in their tour. He is replaced by Sergeant Will James, played by Jeremy Renner, a man that seems to go out of his way to make each mission more dangerous. James loves the rush of danger so much that he can't stay away from it.

This was not the kind of team leader than Sergeant JT Sanborn and Specialist Owen Elkridge were hoping to follow in their last thirty-nine days of their tour. Sanborn, played by Anthony Mackie is a straight forward, by the book soldier who becomes quickly at odds with his team leader's cowboy approach to their job. Sanborn will face off with James off duty, but in the street he is a strong part of the team. Specialist Elkridge harbors a great fear of making a mistake that leads to his own death or the death of a team member. Though he suffers with this fear and talks to a doctor about it, he shows amazing courage by not letting it hamper his work with the team.

These personalities come together to do one of the most dangerous jobs in one of the most dangerous places. The action is powerful and the tension is real. The setting is striking and what really brings out the realism is how many times the soldiers try to help and fail. This brings a depth to the story like nothing else could. Another major plus for this movie is how it keeps focus on the three main characters. There is a lot of action but the focus remains strong.

This movie is a tutorial in what urban warfare is like and what it is like to exist in a place where no one outside your comrades can be trusted. I think this movie is a must see for anyone with any interest in what our men and women in uniform go through when they leave on a tour in a war zone. It should be right there with "Saving Private Ryan" when movies are shown on Memorial Day and on Veteran's Day. Watching this movie will give anyone a renewed appreciation for the American soldier. I will be seriously disappointed if "The Hurt Locker" does not receive several nominations from the Academy this year.

Jeremy Renner plays Sergeant Will James. Renner is a fine actor and one that I enjoyed playing Detective Jason Walsh on the TV series "The Unusuals". Renner has distinguished himself in his role as the killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the movie "Dahmer." He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for that role and he has recently received a nomination for the same award for his role as Sergeant Will James.

Anthony Mackie plays Sergeant JT Sanborn. I believe this was a great role for him. He has had other strong roles that have shown his talent including playing Tupac Shakur in "Notorious," and playing Major William Bowman in "Eagle Eye."

Brian Geraghty plays Specialist Owen Elkridge. In some ways I thought this was the most challenging role in the movie. He showed powerful emotion as Specialist Elkridge fought his inner fear while doing his job without hesitation. He is quiet through most of the action but he gets to say his piece near the end.

I'm not the action movie type. I don't bother with most movies that contain a lot of violence, but I thought this movie was different and it was. I highly recommend "The Hurt Locker" and I call it a must see.