The Hurt Locker

What: The Hurt Locker
How Long: 2 hours, 11 minutes.
Where: Testosterhome.
What I ate while I watched: Klondike bar and 2 Mt. Dews.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo.

Two Sentence Synopsis: Sgt. James takes over a unit in Iraq that is responsible for disabling IEDs. His cavalier attitude toward the experience creates tension with his teammates Sanborn and Eldridge.

I originally added this one to the good ole Netflix queue because of an article from Paste Magazine. I kept it there because there was a lot of Oscar buzz about the whole shebang, so I naturally expected it to be good, because all Oscar-ed films are great, right? Right.

Overall, a fairly convincing war film. And not political either, which is refreshing. Just an honest depiction of several ways to deal with the stress of everyday disarming things that have the potential to kill you. There were some comical lines throughout, but it was by far a serious movie. And rightly so.

The best parts are the cinematography and writing--wide, open shots add to the desolate effect the setting conveys. My biggest complaint has to do with the ending. **SPOILER** I don't think James should have gone back. I understand why you do it from an artistic point of view, but I think it ruins his credibility as a worthy of leadership character, more so than the poorly-ending little venture into the town did. **SPOILER CONCLUDED**

There is a fair amount of language throughout, so if you have sensitive ears you may want to stay away.

As far as theology goes, there were good points and bad points. My favorite quote was where Sgt. James says "Everyone's a coward about something," because that is definitely true. It's just sad that it ended up he was a coward about living with his family. Poor choice, Kathryn.

In short, rent it.