Intelligent, but awkward and emotionally dead

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2010)

With its choppy story telling, hand-held camera work, and low production values, The Hurt Locker resembles the style of last years Oscar nominee, The Wrestler, but emotionally, there is no comparison. This film is a dud. It is a tricky war story to be sympathetic with, because it never hits you in a visceral way. Certain scenes rise to a fair level of tension and potency, but like the result of a bomb explosion, The Hurt Locker is very much in pieces.
We follow a trio of bomb disposal specialists in a small Iraq town during the war. When the movie begins, they have thirty days left in their tour.
A premise as simple as this is good for being realistic and subjective. It allows the film to zoom in close with the subject. (often quite literally). Simplicity is a good thing, but the hurt locker gets a little clumsy. It starts off strong and it maintains a gritty realism, but it never comes alive. When the film is over you realize that it hasn't really taken you anywhere.