The Hurt Locker

The Oscar Nominations are out. As usual it is slightly frustrating that the UK distribution of films is slightly out of step with that of the USA. Some of the films nominated and sometimes the winners themselves appear in our cinemas just before the award ceremony or even just after. There are nine films nominated for Best Film: I have reviewed "Avatar", "Up in the Air" and "An Education". I have seen "Inglorious Basterds", and "Up" (which I trust will win the animated feature Oscar),leaving "The Hurt Locker" which I review below and three others (http://oscar.go.com/nominations/nominees)

Alice hates me reviewing films she hasn't yet seen because she is worried I will give away too much of the plot as I have on occasion in the past. However I try to review in abstract terms rather than involve plot spoilers. The film is set in Iraq where an elite Army bomb disposal squad is seen at work in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a potential bomb. The chaos of war is magnificently created and there is a true cat and mouse element to the film and the plot. I finished my viewing of the film with a tension headache. I was that immersed with the activities of the bomb squad and with their characters, I was there as they work their way through their tour of duty. The three men of the bomb squad became real to me and I deeply cared about all three of them. They are wonderfully contrasted people, deeply complex and all trying to survive in an insane world. Anthony Mackie (Sergeant Sanborn) and Brian Geraghty (Specialist Owen Eldridge) are as different from each other and as different again from the third member of the squad, Sergeant First Class William James. If the tensions out on the streets of Baghdad are not enough, the tensions within the unit are as palpable and as dangerous. I believed in both Mackie and Geraghty as characters and as people. I cannot believe neither of them has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Nominated for Best actor is Jeremy Renner as Will James. He is up against George Clooney (whose performance I rated highly in my review of "Up in the Air" - see below) and Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart, for which he won the Golden Globe.

Jeremy Renner wasn't acting. He was Will James. I totally believed in this not exactly likeable character. His complexes and his complexity made him feel as dangerous as the explosive objects he was working with.

The screenplay by Mark Boal is brilliant and the cinematography by Barry Ackroyd matched to the editing by Bob Murawski and Chris Innis all add to the incredible achievement that is this film and to our knowledge of the insanity of war.

The major credit must go to Kathryn Bigelow as director. I liked what Jason Reitman did with "Up in the Air", James Cameron with "Avatar" and Tarantino with "Inglourious Basterds" direct with the panache and flair expected of such well renowned film-makers. I hope the Oscar goes to Kathryn for what I felt was a moving experience in the cinema.