To me it is more a compelling document than a well constructed film, much like The Changeling was. The film doesn't work as a whole. There are too many why would they do that for my liking?
That being said Kathryn Bigelow deserves to be Best Director. While at points I absolutely hated the hand held style she invoked, she is a master at creating suspense. Not surprising as this is the director that brought us recent action classics like Point Break, Near Dark and Strange Days. And when she finally lets the camera rest, she really hits her stride. That being said of the hand held, the opening of the film is a tour de force using everything in her power, it grabs a hold of you and never lets go.
The casting is perfect and the three leads are all fantastic in conveying the thrill and drug like hold war has over them. Jeremy Renner is fantastic as the lone wolf, Anthony Mackie conveys the profound effect that war can have on a persons psyche beautifully. The scene between Renner and Mackie as they contemplate the effect that war has had on them is heartbreaking for the audience as we see two men transform before I very eyes due to what they have seen. And Brian Geraghty plays the virgin to war as if his life depended on it.
My biggest problem with the film is it's script by Mark Boal and this most likely comes down to the editing as well as there seems to be a lot left out to fit the film into a certain running time. So we only get glimpses of the how these soldiers bond and it seems only perfunctory rather than necessary to furthering the story. My other two complaints are minor things, that I don't want to say for fear of giving the film away for all of those who may be reading this. However it is a breath of fresh air to see a writer taking on challenging material, he is also the writer that brought us the much overlooked but sensational none the less In The Valley Of Elah, and doing it in a refreshing way that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator.
And when it all comes down to it, that is what is so wonderful about The Hurt Locker and why it deserves all the kudos it is getting. Here is a film that takes us on a ride into a world that is know to us but shown to us in a new and distinct light and does it with out sermonising and treating the audience as if we were idiots. Wonderful. Electrifying. And important.
Thank you to everyone who was involved.
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