The Hurt Locker (2008)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writer (WGA):

Mark Boal (written by)

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (Italy)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

Tagline:

You'll know when you're in it.

Plot:

Iraq. Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

Plot Keywords:

Bomb | Army | Soldier | Death | Sergeant

Awards:

6 wins & 4 nominations

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Jeremy Renner	...	Staff Sergeant William James
Anthony Mackie	...	Sergeant JT Sanborn
Brian Geraghty	...	Specialist Owen Eldridge
Guy Pearce	...	Sergeant Matt Thompson
Ralph Fiennes	...	Contractor Team Leader
David Morse	...	Colonel Reed
Evangeline Lilly	...	Connie James
Christian Camargo	...	Colonel John Cambridge
Suhail Aldabbach	...	Black Suit Man (as Suhail Al-Dabbach)
Christopher Sayegh	...	Beckham
Nabil Koni	...	Professor Nabil
Sam Spruell	...	Contractor Charlie
Sam Redford	...	Contractor Jimmy
Feisal Sadoun	...	Contractor Feisal
Barrie Rice	...	Contractor Chris

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and language.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45024) | Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | UK:15 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Amman, Jordan

Company:

First Light Production

Trivia:

Several key American crew members were stopped and questioned and/or had their baggage rummaged through by American airport security prior to go to and/or coming back from Jordan. Even one of the producers was held for questioning upon returning to Los Angeles.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the scene where Elridge is observing the goats on the bridge, his Aimpoint CompM2 is shown with zoom capabilities. The real Aimpoint CompM2 is a red dot sight, and has no magnification.

Quotes:

Soldier: [after catching James coming back into the camp after having snuck out] What were you doing out there?
Staff Sergeant William James: Visiting a whorehouse.
Soldier: Okay. If I let you back in, will you tell me exactly where it is?

Soundtrack:

Palestina

The work of a master filmmaker

The Hurt Locker is a serious character study and a taut, suspenseful action thriller at once.

The subject matter itself - the work of a bomb expert, possibly one of the most nerve-racking jobs on the planet - yields most of the suspense but Bigelow manages to squeeze out every bit of tension of the premise.

This film to me was very apolitical - though set in Iraq, it is distinguished from most of the Iraq-themed war films in that it concentrates much more on the job itself than the political environment. Iraq seemed more like a backdrop - any other war would do, The Hurt Locker does not preach about this one specifically.

The story is deeply emotional, depicting a thoroughly disturbed individual's life in hell. Jeremy Renner gives an incredibly powerful performance as an EOD officer completely hooked on adrenaline stemming from his everyday close shaves with death.

All aspects of film-making are top-notch, from the brilliantly subversive screenplay through vivid cinematography, masterful directing and perfectly paced editing.

In its storytelling the filmmakers wisely break with traditional Hollywood narrative techniques. There is no clear antagonist, no rising action, no obvious character development and no climax. And yet the film manages to be more interesting, tense and suspenseful than any Hollywood action thriller I've seen in years while making a powerful, yet subtle statement about the insane addiction that is war. Kudos for everyone involved for making this film without compromising.

This is pure quality, cinematic storytelling at its best, a thinking man's actioner.