ANYONE who follows news of events in Iraq knows about the extreme danger posed by improvised explosive devices, which have been responsible for almost half the deaths of coalition forces since the occupation began in 2003.
Difficult to detect and disarm, these hidden homemade killers must be a great source of anxiety to the on-ground personnel targeted by the insurgent/resistant forces that lay the traps, not to mention the specialist bomb disposal squads responsible for removing the danger.
What The Hurt Locker explores so successfully is the question of why people would place themselves in such a high-risk situation in the first place, let alone be drawn repeatedly back to the high-risk posting.
At the start of the film, a statement from director Kathryn Bigelow (K-19: The Widowmaker, Strange Days) contends that war is like an addictive drug, offering certain personality types a rush that can’t be found anywhere else.
The events that follow don’t seem like experiences that most people would care to repeat, but the audience is introduced to a world of great tension and terrifying excitement that will indeed leave viewers feeling the thrill and wanting more, albeit without all the life-threatening elements of the real thing.
This goes a long way to demonstrating the claim that combat can be an addiction.
Bigelow has built the film around first-hand observations from imbedded journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal, and while you would have to ask someone who has actually worked in bomb disposal in Iraq (if you can find one) as to the authenticity of the details, The Hurt Locker certainly presents itself as a credible depiction.
The uncomplicated plot follows Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), who takes command of a bomb disposal unit after its leader dies in a high-risk attempt to disarm a large bomb.
James’ gung-ho attitude and seeming disregard for safety soon puts him offside with his subordinates Sergeant Sanborne (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Eldridge.
The squad finds itself in one life-threatening situation after another, all shot with a visceral hand-held intensity that doesn’t overdo the camera-shake but still brings a straight-from-the-news immediacy to the combat and patrol scenes.
The Hurt Locker is incredibly nerve-racking for most of its course, but ultimately stimulating, enlightening and thought provoking, strengthened further by Bigelow’s non-judgemental approach to the ethics of both sides of the conflict.
The Hurt Locker (MA)
Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
Rating: Four and a half stars (131 minutes)
Screening: Now