Riveting, Must-See ‘The Hurt Locker’ is Flawless Filmmaking

CHICAGO – Filmmaking simply doesn’t get much more riveting than Kathryn Bigelow’s incredible “The Hurt Locker,” a cinematic experience unlike any other that you will have this year. Building and releasing tension better than her peers have in a long time, Bigelow has made not only the best Iraq War movie to date but the best film of 2009 at just over the halfway point.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

With “The Hurt Locker,” Bigelow takes viewers to the other side of the world to bring into relatable perspective a daily grind that most of us couldn’t even imagine. The leads in “The Hurt Locker” are soldiers in Iraq who diffuse bombs for a living, often in range of sniper fire and often with materials and equipment tragically unable to protect them should something go wrong.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “The Hurt Locker” in our reviews section.

“The Hurt Locker” is a visceral, daring, adrenalin-pumping experience that brings a profession that would seem nearly impossible to identify with into relatable, genuine context. It could be your friend, your son, your neighbor, or even you thrown into the nightmare of “The Hurt Locker”.

The film opens with a shocking death (that I won’t spoil) that allows Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner of “The Unusuals”) to join an expert group of bomb-diffusing soldiers in Iraq. The enemy often leaves a bomb in the middle of the road to kill passing troops. When someone sees something suspicious - wires sticking out of some garbage, metal where there should only be sand - they call in James, Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty).

Continuing reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “The Hurt Locker” review.

(Left to right) Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie star in The Hurt Locker.
Photo credit: Jonathan Olley