The Hurt Locker

Guy Pearce works in explosive ordnance disposal.  He’s an E-8, a senior enlisted man, and he goes by the book.  The book’s a good thing in a combat zone like Baghdad in 2004, but there’s no guarantee it’ll keep you alive.

And so we begin with Kathryn Bigelow’s THE HURT LOCKER, a film about combat soldiering in the modern age.  About more than just soldiering, THE HURT LOCKER is about the kind of people who soldier: those who are made for it, those who become made for it, and those who should never step outside the wire.  Made with knowledge, empathy, and skill, THE HURT LOCKER takes us into the lives of people who neutralize bombs for a living and into the hearts of people who have to rocket back and forth between the safety of their Army camp and the hostile uncertainty of urban warfare every single day.

While the movie suffers from feeling more like a series of set pieces than an organic narrative, Bigelow’s directorial style makes us feel that we’re on the ground with these people, ducking for cover with them and trying to manage our emotions with them.  And when (some of them) come home, we feel their confusion with civilian life and understand their need to return to the place they’d so desperately wished to escape.

While I’ve never wanted to be in the Army and I’ve never wanted to play with bombs, THE HURT LOCKER put me in the shoes of those who are and do.  It made me see through their eyes for a time, and I think that’s a worthwhile endeavor.