Sunday Oct. 18th, 2009 - The Hurt Locker (2009)


While waiting up until five in the morning for my wife to get home from a costume party I decided to watch Kathryn Bigelow's critically acclaimed new Iraq War film The Hurt Locker. Aside from the classic vampire movie Near Dark and her genius Swayze/Busey starring actioner Point Break, Bigelow has managed to put together a rather mediocre body of work. But when she's good, she's really good, and The Hurt Locker is pretty good. The story follows a division in Iraq who find and disarm, or detonate, IEDs. What's interesting about this film as opposed to other movies concerning the war, is that this is the first time we've seen the day to day dealt with in such an honest way. There's no overly dramatic or sentimental flourishes. These guys have a job to do, they do it, and in some cases get addicted to the rush of it all. It's a delicately handled premise and Bigelow paints the portrait with thoughtful detail and very few broad strokes. 
I was tired and ready for bed, but had to make sure Jynx arrived home okay and could get in as she had left her keys. I was not in the most pleasant mood and not really prepared to enjoy anything, so it's a credit to The Hurt Locker that I could throw it on at two-thirty in the morning and stay engaged and awake through the entire film.