A Refreshing Take on Why Some Soldiers Do What They Do

Rating: 8/10 (14 February 2010)

Very well done film revolving around a three-man, bomb-defusing EOD team in Iraq circa 2004. It is subtle, honest, and defies cliché at almost every turn. Basically, it is the anti- Michael Bay film.
What is most interesting about the film is that it isn't a hagiography on the war soldier. It shows these 3 men for who they are; men who are good at what they do, and who may have made the choice to do it before knowing exactly what it would involve. The three men include the experienced, competent Sergeant (Anthony Mackie), who wants to fulfill is duty and get out of Iraq, the fearful private who is convinced on his own imminent demise, and the adrenaline junkie, war-addict who would be lost but for the dangerous jobs he intentionally involves himself in (Jeremy Renner).
The screenwriter embedded himself with an American combat unit in Iraq before writing the script, and obviously realized that for some soldiers, it's not as simple as "defending honor and freedom, and the American way of life". Like most people who go to work everyday, whether their lives are in danger or not, some soldiers do what they do because they made a commitment, or they're good at, or simply because it's the only thing that has ever given their lives any meaning.