This film is intense.
It follows three members of the Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad in Baghdad in 2004.
When Staff Sergeant William James (played by Jeremy Renner) takes over the unit, he freaks out his fellow squad members by having an apparent total disregard for safety and protocol.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/2GxSDZc8etg" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
With only a short time left in their tours of duty in Iraq, the squad is hoping the next call won’t be their last.
As for the audience, they are left on the edge of their seat as screenwriter Mark Boal takes them from one bomb scene to another. Boal, a journalist, was embedded with a special bomb unit in Iraq.
The movie also shows the effects of occupation on the occupiers. There are taut scenes where the squad is looking for hostile people on rooftops and where James is defusing bombs.
The squad is understandably paranoid as they never know which civilians to trust. Director Kathryn Bigelow does an outstanding job of showing the audience the psychological mess that accompanies the squad’s mission.
The fly in the ointment is Renner, who simply can’t carry the role he plays. While he does okay playing the brash, devil may care soldier, he simply is not believable when it comes to showing his emotional side.
As for the other actors, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are solid as James‘s squad mates. And there are cameo appearances by Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly, and Guy Pearce.
“The Hurt Locker,” which is up for an Oscar for best picture, is available to rent.
Murphy can be reached at: [email protected]
