Suspenseful

Rating: 9/10 (6 February 2011)

The theme of the hurt locker is about war and more specifically about the challenges of one unit during their time in Iraq. Full Metal Jacket is another film that shows the struggles of soldiers, beginning with basic training, and continuing through their tour in Vietnam. The opening scene of The Hurt Locker shows a quote from Chris Hedges. It says, "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug." The last four words remain as the others fade away. Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner), Sergeant J. T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are a team from the Bravo company of a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit. Sanborn and Eldridge guard James as he works in his bomb suit to disarm IEDs. James's casual attitude causes tension within the team. On more than one occasion James cut off communication with the rest of his team and seemed to have no regard for his own safety or the safety of his team.
The film also shows the emotional side of war. James connects with Beckham, an Iraqi child who sells DVD's. In one scene James is shown playing soccer with the boy. During a raid at a warehouse, James finds the body of a young boy who has had an unexploded bomb implanted in his chest. Believing it to be Beckham, he later leaves the military base seeking revenge but his search gets him nowhere.
The next mission shows an Iraqi man with a bomb strapped to his chest. Believing him to be innocent, James tries to take the bomb off but is unsuccessful and the man is blows up. Following this mission Sanborn confides in James that he is having a hard time coping with the stress of the war and wants to go home and have a son.
The end of the film shows James back in civilian life. It shows him in the cereal aisle of a grocery store and the difficulty he has choosing a box of cereal. His interactions with his wife involve him telling her about his missions but she doesn't seem to be listening and can't relate to his experiences. One night he tells his son there is only one thing he knows that he loves and the final scene shows him returning to Iraq with the Delta company of an EOD unit as they begin their tour.
The use of an unsteady camera shot allows the viewer to feel like they are there with the soldiers. The subjective point of view allowed the viewer to experience the suspense of the situation. The director, Kathryn Bigelow, does a superb job of communicating the struggles of soldiers in Iraq. Having had a close family member serve in the war, they were able to relate to the film and express how accurate Bigelow's details were. Although there were a few inaccurate scenes, overall the film was accurate in the background, vehicles, and weapons used.
Bigelow excluded the politics of the war and focused on the soldiers which helped the viewer sympathize with them. She also showed a small part of the struggles soldier's face when they return home. Civilians do not understand what soldiers endure overseas and soldiers have a hard time connecting with their family members when they return from war. Having been at war for so long, soldiers feel they don't belong in the civilian world and need to return to war to have a purpose. Bigelow chose the perfect quote to begin the film. For James and many other soldiers, war is a drug. A drug they cannot live without.