Things that make you go hmmm....

Rating: 5/10 (2 January 2010)

I should start off by saying I am a huge Kathryn Bigelow fan, and she has certainly taken on a task with this film. I am not an army person, so I cannot speak to authenticity, but from a film-going perspective, it is an intriguing film. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it, so that might be a condemnation of the film, but it isn't meant to be. It is an interesting movie that veers between the quietly personal and the physically challenging. The relationship between the men is the anchor to the film and it certainly doesn't glorify war, as some people have stated in previous comments.
There is nothing about this film that makes you walk away thinking "Yes war is good". There is something dark about this film that you may or may not enjoy watching, but there is a larger message in the film. I got the feeling that Bigelow was trying to tell us that most people in the face of potential and very real death, need a certain amount of bravado and a certain amount of bravery to get through the days left.
Bravo Company is not a place I would want to be, and the movie opens with death just so we are sure. On the down side, I find the characters are not really well developed and they are developed in a haphazard way. Jeremy Renner is dancing with death, and seems to careen between substance and style as the character demands. He is the stand-out in the film, but Anthony Mackie is no slouch either and brings a real human compassion to the role. I can't help but wish his character well, and that he returns safely home.
Sadly it is the cavalcade of other characters that appear and whose roles are undeveloped that weaken the intensity of the film. The cinematography is outstanding, and captures the harsh beauty of the landscape. What the film lacks in tightness it makes up for in bathos. It's not a movie for the family and it won't be a movie you will want to see again and again, but there is something here worth seeing...even just once.