The man gotta do what the man gotta do...

Rating: 7/10 (26 July 2009)

Predictability is necessary even in a suspense - paradoxical, but ... predictable. In a handful of episodes depicting the diffusion of bombs and explosions, the palpable anxiety and tediousness of the process does make sense. A couple of these episodes are somewhat contrived, but still, the character of Sergeant William James fits in them perfectly.
(Some 'urban legend' types of 'macho' statements are made usually along the lines of a "Real man has to live like he is not afraid to die any moment". For that there is a come back 'ninja' type: "The REAL man should act without fear as if he is already dead". Neither of them have anything in common with real life.)
People usually can't explain their behaviour - they just do whatever they 'gotta do'. How to show it in a concise and simple way? Kathryn Bigelow does it rather well. Three main characters illustrate the bell curve of an average. In the middle there is Sergeant JT Sanborn and on either side of him there is Sergeant William James, (the 'ninja' type) and Specialist Owen Eldridge on the other. He shows more fear than Sanborn, who is too proud to give in to the natural sense of self-preservation - although he reacts 'normally' and appeals to common sense when James behaves in a manner which can be perceived by others as bravado. Yet, having eight hundred and thirty seven bombs diffused in his (we don't know how many) tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, what other attitude can we expect from him? In his predictably short stay at home with his 'family' (a masterful stroke of the writer - divorced wife living with their son in his house - "So - what does it make her?") he utterly doesn't fit in to any other environment but the one in which he has grown into like a toenail: the road side bombs environment.
It is an important film and, although not perfect (definitely not 'the best film of the year' as the leading comment suggests), it brings home some of the realities of this and any other war. Adrenaline and other hormones pump on both sides and they find themselves in a choreography of circumstances, relational obligations and attraction. Yes, the attraction of war. This film is an illustration of what wars do to the character and the soul of a person.