as previously mentioned, i spent july 4th hunkered down at the arclight for a double feature of moon and the hurt locker. i expected to enjoy both and did, but what took me by surprise is the thematic similarities that kept cropping up.
to quote myself, both films are (note: slight spoilers here):
“about loneliness, about rootlessness. about counting down the days until you can go home, except that even when you’re there, you’re not home. it’s about men who need to be far from the women they still desire, about fathers counting down the days until they can hold their children…
“about trying to remain safe in a barren, inhospitable place. it’s about sacrifice, loyalty, courage, trust. about having faith in a mission and falling for a lie. about men showing their love through their fists, bonding through violence, washing away the blood.”
and i forgot to mention the suits (see image, above).
maybe that’s coincidence. maybe i would have found as many parallels between hurt locker and transformers 2. but somehow i doubt it.
the hurt locker follows around the men of bravo company’s explosive ordnance disposal squad in the difficult second year of the iraq war. staff sgt. james (jeremy renner), sgt. sanborn (anthony mackie) and specialist eldridge (brian geraghty) get word of some suspicious looking car or pile of debris and walk slowly towards it, while everyone else (in uniform or not) runs the other way.
the story begins with the mission prior to james’ arrival. in fact, its tragic outcome creates the opening he fills. upon his entrance, it’s clear that the story belongs to him. quietly cocky, he is so inured to danger - or addicted to it - that he’s willing to take on calculated risks that more by-the-book soldiers would rather not face. his modest swagger (and the skills to back it up) is a requirement of the job; if you’re insecure and risk-averse, don’t join the bomb squad.
the movie is structured as a series of set pieces, each escalating in intensity - i.e.d.s to car bombs (and worse), snipers to suicide bombers. each sequence is master class in how to shoot complex action and build suspense. there are quite a few directors of blockbuster action movies who ought to study director kathryn bigelow’s work here frame by frame. (christopher nolan and michael bay, please report to detention for extra homework.)
as a longtime fan of bigelow, i particularly appreciated the drinking-and-brawling bonding session back at the barracks. i only hope the studio is able to get her thematically related student film, the set-up, as a special feature on the dvd.
renner has some excellent character beats that give insight into the psychological costs of the special skills he’s acquired. other scenes are less even, particularly two unsanctioned excursions outside the green zone strain credulity. i doubt the us army offers a highly specialized squad so much autonomy to move around a war zone, or so little tactical support when doing so.
renner, mackie and geraghty are excellent. better known faces - guy pearce, ralph fiennes and david morse - are well used in small but memorable roles. fans of dexter will get a kick of out seeing christian carmargo, season one’s villain, in a more touchy-feely role. as with moon, the women are most notable by their absence, even one with as much presence as lost’s evangeline lilly.
i can’t remember a war film since full metal jacket that does as good a job depicting the isolation and alienation of war, urban warfare in particular. as james and crew work, iraqi faces pop up on balconies and in storefronts in the distance. are they curious onlookers? or insurgents with remote detonators and camcorders, capturing the big boom on video for youtube?
by design, the hurt locker doesn’t appear to have a political or even polemical agenda. it doesn’t claim that war is good, or bad, or hell, or even necessary. what it wants to say, it says plainly, in big letters up on the screen: “war is a drug.” and addiction has its price.
