Exiting, if somewhat implausible, 'men-at-war' film

Rating: 7/10 (18 March 2019)

On the last few weeks of their tour in Iraq, a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit loses one of their team to an IED. The replacement (SFC James, Jeremy Renner) seems either suicidal or strung out on the 'thrill' of bomb disposal. I enjoyed the film and found much of the 'combat' footage riveting (but I have no experience by which to judge its realism). Renner is generally good but I found his character's behaviour a bit hard to accept ('believe'?) at times (especially the AWOL scene). Director Bigelow does a good job of staying neutral considering the controversies surrounding the recent US interventions in the middle-east - the film is neither jingoistic nor stridently anti-war. I would have rated the film higher if I had not read the comments pertaining to its inaccuracies (many of which supported my uninformed suspicions).