Movie- The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker was nominated for several Oscars and won two big ones, Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow and Best Picture, among others.

When I was a teenager I watched a PBS series called Danger UXB (and later rewatched it on Netflix). It was set in Britain in WWII and as bombs rained down on London, not all exploded. A team would come and disarm the bomb, the UneXploded Bomb (hence the title). It was a risky job.

The Hurt Locker (2009) takes that concept even further, because the bombs being disarmed are in enemy territory, where anyone could be shooting at you as you disarm it. The story takes place in Iraq, with a team that takes apart roadside bombs. It is intense, and highly charged, and watching it is nail-biting and tense.

In the first scene, a major character is killed, and the risk becomes very apparent. But Bigelow also paints this picture as one that frays on the nerves of the soldiers who do this job...the daily risks tear apart their psyches, leaving room for little more than shells, trying hard to hold onto their humanity. But each job, each bomb safely disposed of, seems to take more of them bit by bit.

The Hurt Locker was a very moving movie amidst all the tension. But I did not think it was as good as some critics. There seemed to be a bit more emphasis on visual style than was really needed. The story itself was tension filled enough, and the filming style added to it, but sometimes overshadowed the story.

The acting was terrific, all the men showing the tensions and loss of self that would come out of putting yourself in this peril.

The Hurt Locker was a really good movie, but I think it missed "great" by the tiniest of margins.