Best Picture Oscar - Naah ; Awesome War Movie - Yess

Rating: 7/10 (29 April 2010)

THE HURT LOCKER – 75% The hurt locker is an intense film but not a very pointed one. It simply follows 27 days in the life of a quiet matter of fact bomb disposal squad in Iraq.
The squad is led by a reckless but good Sergeant James (an underplaying yet impressive Jeremy Renner) who is as flamboyant in his bomb disposing as maybe James Bond. He is also your regular nice guy who plays football with the local Iraqi kid and kicks ass of his disapproving team mates but then helps them get up.
The rest of the movie is pretty much one sequence after another of bomb disposals - all seemingly disconnected. The setting is very real and very authentic and so is the bomb disposal but the James style of disposing is a little too Hollywood for comfort. It makes for a good edge of the seat thriller but a thoughtful war movie maybe not.
I would have liked the Hurt locker if it had made me think of Americas strategy of going into Iraq. Or if it was a critique or a supporter of the strategy. I would have also liked it if I felt something for its characters or if it had a point of view on war.
Unfortunately it is none of the above. It is a regular and well made war movie with the over done anti war message. So our hero gets emotionally drained and stands with his clothes on in a shower crying. His colleagues start sweating after a couple of close calls and start whining about starting families and his team mates keep getting eliminated.
Throughout you keep wondering why would any one be out there disposing off Electronic bombs in this ultra hero fashion. Wouldn't it be better to just explode it post evacuation. Wouldn't it be better to go after the sources that keep triggering it. Or just use robot devices to dispose them. But trust the Americans to do it cow boy style.
To my common sense the hurt locker tries to paint a picture of how pitiable it is for American soldiers to be doing this but refuses to ask the question of why they should be doing this in the first place. Even if it was asking this question it gets lost in the numb scenario it wallows in.
The Hurt Locker would have been recommended if it had been a quite indie movie that figured in the bottom half of everyone's top ten of 2010. But unfortunately the Oscar hype and the critics enthusiasm is going to kill it.
I predict the hurt locker will age poorly just as Patton has or for that matter platoon has. Give me Farenheit 9 / 11 any day to drive home the anti Iraq war message.
Go in expecting a decent war movie and you will like it. Go in expecting a Oscar winner and you will be disappointed. Overall Recommended to hardcore War movie enthusiasts only.