THE HURT LOCKER - Hurts So Good

I saw a good movie, which seems to be rare these days. THE HURT LOCKER is easily the best thing I've seen since UP.

OOOH, THESE SPOILERS HURT

HURT LOCKER tells the story of a bomb disposal squad in Iraq in 2004. After the death of the bomb tech/team lead, squadmates Eldridge and Sanborn get a new team leader/tech. Whereas their former team leader did things by the book and was concerned for everyone's safety, the new team leader, SGT. JAMES, is an adrenaline junkie who prefers to get out there himself and and take a few risks. This doesn't sit too well with Sanborn, who thinks James just might get himself and his squad blown up. And Eldridge struggles with the horrors of battle and the overwhelming sense that he'll die in the field.

Script ably ups the tension at nearly every turn with some smart choices. It's structured against the timeline of the troop rotating out of Iraq (39 days and counting when the film starts). Every situation -- whether dealing with a possible IED, civilians watching on a nearby rooftop, or even interacting with local merchants -- is dealt with up close and fraught with potential peril. Even blowing up a weapons cache in the middle of the desert turns into a nail-biter with a standoff with some suspected Hajjis (who turn out to be British Special Forces) followed by a rescue attempt on the Brits' prisoners.

So you've got a great script and some superb acting, with notable turns by Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty. And Katheryn Bigelow does a fine job of directing.

There are really only two flaws in the film, one of casting and one of the script. There are a number of times when famous/recognizable actors show up in bit parts, which ranges from not bothersome in the least (David Morse) to really distracting (Ralph Fiennes). I'm all for casting good people in all parts, but there's no reason to have Ralph Fiennes show up for literally 5 minutes of screentime (and die too). It's similar to the moment in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN when Ted Danson's suddenly behind a wall. You don't think -- wow, there's a Special Forces captain. You think ("Hey, Ted Danson's in WWII!") And I love Evangeline Lilly probably more than anyone except Dominic Monaghan, but there's nothing for her to do in this film. And if I had her waiting at home, I sure wouldn't be in a hurry to head back to Iraq.

The script flaw is after Sgt. James finishes his rotation and heads back stateside. He has a hard time adjusting to life without the threat of constant death, which is ably shown through scenes in which he's sitting at home bored, cleaning out his rain gutter, and overwhelmed by the choices in the cereal aisle. We get -- simply and visually -- that he doesn't fit in here like he does in the wilds of the Iraq war dismantling bombs. Then the script gives us an unnecessary scene of pure, blatant, on-the-nose dialogue, when Sgt. James has a conversation with his newborn son and tells him he'll go from loving everything when he's a baby to loving just one thing when he's Sgt. James' age. We don't need this scene, particularly because the very next scene shows helicopters touching down in Iraq, Sgt. James swaggering off the copter, and then the same swagger inside his bomb suit as he strides off towards danger, happy as a clam. If anything, the dialogue scene gets in the way of the beautiful, almost non-verbal setup and payoff of that sequence.

But those are small flaws in what is otherwise a pretty damn solid film. Go see it.