Theme

Rating: 6/10 (10 February 2016)

The Hurt Locker (2008) is an American war film based on events witness and was released in 2008, directed and produced by Kathryn Bigelow and screenplay writing by Mark Boal who was a journalist attached to a United States Army Special Operations Explosive Ordnance Disposal team in Iraq. This American war film depicts a three-man EOD team during the Iraq War in Baghdad. It stars Jeremy Renner as Staff Sergeant William James, Anthony Mackie as Sergeant J.T. Sanborn, and Brian Geraghty as Specialist Owen Eldridge. The overall theme for this film was being able to overcome adversity, not only with your own surroundings but from within yourself as well. One scene in particular comes to mind and that is when the team of three is drinking alcohol while deployed into a combat zone to help overcome stress of the work environment. It starts to show the true demeanor of each solider as they punch and hit each other. I looked at it as a way to blow off steam with minor repercussions, other than possibly being caught. Another scene that represents adversity from within is when James is discharged from the military and heads home to be with his family. Throughout the movie he was able to make the toughest decisions with somewhat ease when disarming bombs and dealing with combat situations. He had been trained to do this and felt like it was all her knew. In this scene, it shows him with his child having difficulty picking out cereal as there were so many selections. James really didn't know how to act when it came to a normal everyday life, so the transition scene shows him getting off a plane back in Iraq obviously heading back to do what he loves most.
A separate film that I had recently watched that show the adversity of surrounding and yourself is The Cider House Rules (1999). By this I mean that Homer had to overcome the adversity of being an orphan within himself. Homer then once he leaves the orphanage, adversity sets in again, this time with his physical surroundings. Although it was something that he wanted to know by leaving, he had to adapt himself to living without having to take care of younger orphans as well as living in a house with only African-Americans. Eventually after he finds peace with himself, he returns to the orphanage to take over the doctor role and be the main care provider for all.