Failure as a documentary

Rating: 8/10 (18 March 2010)

From what I have read, this film fails to accurately portray daily life for the EOD troops in Iraq in 2004. A documentary with such a flaw is completely unacceptable. As a documentary.
However, I don't think this was intended to be a documentary. Was it? Maybe there was a statement in the titles indicating the film was based on actual events. But I didn't see that title, either.
Does a viewer need to have first hand knowledge of the true situation in order to properly assess this film? I don't think so.
I am not judging the film by its fidelity to actual situations, because I don't know enough to make that call. However, I think I can judge its quality as cinema.
I actually thought the script was disappointing. Some things were just mystifying. Will's trip to visit the parents of Beckham. Finding a still-burning cigarette. Both of those incidents led to nothing.
And I hate to say it, but I thought Will's character was a bit under-written. Jeremy Renner did a very convincing job, but it would have been nice to have a bit more information on why he could be so fearless, to such an extent that his fellow soldiers could seriously discuss fragging him for their own safety.
A film is not required to provide all the answers, but a few more clues would have been beneficial. The film was two hours long, so perhaps there were clues that were cut in order to shorten the running time.
The ensemble acting was terrific, and the direction was at least not noticeable. I thought this was a nice little film, but not spectacular.