The film is about a bomb disposal unit in Iraq during 2004. It focuses on Bravo Company, a three-man unit with 40 days left in its tour. The unit's commanding officer, Sergeant James, has become so enthralled with disarming bombs that the act has virtually become his drug of choice. So drawn to it, is James, that he even begins gambling with the lives of the men in his unit just so he can get his next "adrenaline fix."
That's all I'll say about the plot of the movie. Hopefully. It's a surprising and poignant drama featuring a truly dynamic lead character played by the excellent, Jeremy Renner. Sergeant James isn't given a duck soup backstory that informs his behaviour - he just is the way he is because he's good enough at his job to have survived this long. It's not that he doesn't care about his men - there are scenes where he displays excellent leadership and tenderness for them - the problem with Sergeant James is that he's an addict and addicts know not what they do. Not after a certain point, they don't.
Aside from Renner, Anthony Mackie is excellent as the second-in-command, and the one character who is initially opposed to James's behaviour. How their relationship develops a certain mutual insight is very well handled, relying on a dire sequence, where the two character must rely on one another for survival to generate their understanding of one another.
Speaking of said sequence, it's a hell of a sniper shootout that feels like it unfolds in real time. Credit goes to director Kathryn Bigelow, the real star of this movie, for generating several scenes of unrelenting tension. Bigelow has always been a talented visualist; Strange Days is one of the more visually striking films in history and Point Break is a good action flick, with at least one amazing foot chase.
Here, however, Bigelow has found the right balance between visual panache and involving character study. Despite all of the stunning bomb disarming sequences, none of them would be as suspenseful had Bigelow not cleverly developed her characters and their conflicts.
The Hurt Locker is easily the best film that I've seen this year. It blows would-be thrillers like The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 and Public Enemies right out of the water. This is pure, brawny action filmmaking that hopefully will garner awards consideration for Bigelow and Renner.
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