Christmas Countdown: Top 25 Movies of 2009 – No.11
Today’s choice misses out on Top 10 status by the narrowest of margins. An epic tale of conflict, both external and internal, today’s movie will be high on the honours list when the Oscars come calling in February.
Number 11 is…
The Hurt Locker focuses on the lives of a band of elite soldiers ho have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant, James, takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team in Iraq, he confounds his team by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. As the men struggle to cope with their new wild leader they begin to learn more about him and themselves.
Why it is worthy: It’s exciting stuff, full of explosions and hectic scenes of combat, but it never reduces it to the action for actions sake feel of Transformers 2 or Terminator Salvation. The action is real, grounded in fact and almost documentary like in its attention to detail. Screenwriter Mark Boal has given director Kathryn Bigelow a taut and interesting script from which she gleams great moments of visual and emotional splendour. The swift cuts and shaky hand-held camera work work brilliantly to enforce the feeling of constant threat. Jeremy Renner is fantastic as the squad leader James, all bravo and bluster he fills the character with an inner strength and supreme confidence. At home he is lost and awkward but out in the trenches he is zen-like in his demeanor and candour, and Renner embodies the role in true method-actor. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s Oscar nommed. The supporting cast of Brian Geraghty and Anthony Mackie are strong to in their roles, showing strong emotions as the conflicted and war-torn soldiers.
Fatal flaws: It’s a balls-to-the-wall testosterone fuelled action-flick, and as such is not for everyone. Sgt. James’ recklessness is sometimes hard to fathom and he’s less believable as a character because of it. His befriending of the Arab boy Beckham in the second-act feels forced, an attempt to give gravitas to the character and an impetus to keep on fighting. The characters of Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce and David Morse just pop in and out as necessary and no real reason or need for them is ever given. The hand-held camera has been used to death now, it’s use clichéd to give a home-grown feel to the story. It feels unfinished, unresolved but that’s mostly down to the fact that fighting just never stops. The fact that this is not an anti-war movie, but rather a movie about the effects of war on 3 men may sit uneasy with people expecting to see a condemnation of American foreign-policy. For them I recommend Brain DePalma’s Redacted, a lesser work but more intent on vilifying war and it’s perpetrators.
Verdict: An adrenaline filled, tense, flat-out ripper of an action movie this is great stuff.
The Countdown
25. This Is It
24. Adventureland
23. Drag Me To Hell
22. Anvil
21. In the Loop
20. Watchmen
19. The Hangover
18. Coraline
17. Public Enemies
16. (500) Days of Summer
15. Harry Brown
14. The Wrestler
13. Fantastic Mr. Fox
12. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ronan:
December 15th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
A real action film. Unlike some of that nonsense in the cinemas during the summer.
Niamh:
December 19th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I actually really enjoyed this film, though I’m pretty sure my head was wringing for a while after all the fighting and explosions. I reviewed it here somewhere. Loved the details on some of the visuals, it was like I was there - for real!