2009--The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow

 

2009--The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow

Nominated: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglorious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air

Should have won: Avatar

Be sure to see: Black Dynamite, Drag me to Hell, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Princess and the Frog, Zombieland

“What's the best way to go about disarming one of these things?”--Colonel Reed

“The way you don't die, sir.”--Sgt. First Class William James

     In the first year to have numerous best picture nominees since 1943, The Hurt Locker features Staff Sergeant William James as a member of a three man squad who disarms bombs in the Iraq war. He is reckless and fearless, even disobeying Sergeant Sanborn. The movie is pretty good but a little repetitive. There are bombs; the men go to disarms them. Then there are more bombs. Lather, rinse, repeat. The best segment in the movie strayed away from the bomb aspect. There is a fourteen minute long sequence in the desert where the men meet up with other Americans and then fall under attack of a distant sniper. This scene kept me perked up a lot more than the rest but really, for me, those two aspects were the only reason the movie stays afloat: The sniper scene and all of the bomb scenes. However, though the sniper scene did keep me interested there is a gigantic flaw in it, I would guess. Keep in mind this is coming from someone with zero military experience but I questioned this aspect of the scene. The setup: A group of men are being shot at by a distant sniper. One man gets shot by the sniper and another remains in virtually the same spot the whole time firing at the sniper. How was he not picked off too? If you watch the scene you'll see what I mean. He never took cover, staying right in harm's way the entire time, knowing full well he is in danger since his partner was picked off right next to him.

     There is also a scene early on that kept my attention but might have been a little pointless. It is James' standoff with a taxi driver who won't move. I was on the edge of my seat and then as the scene ends I thought “Um, okay.” Even the people who watch the goings on of the trio kept me interested. What are they up to? Should we be suspicious of the ones holding phones?

     I've looked around doing my research and found an interesting post on imdb by a soldier about how Sandborn treated James. To paraphrase, he said there is no way Sandborn address him they way he did and and there is a scene where Sandborn punches James which certainly would not happen without dire consequences. Also, there is no way Eldridge would call James “Will”. He went into a lot more detail but the point was made. How realistic or credible is this movie? I've never been in the military myself so those reading this who have, please shed some insight on how realistic these circumstances are, both the way the men addressed each other and that sniper scene. I'm curious. 

      Director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win best director and the movie was the first directed by a woman to win best picture (she is the second to be nominated; Sofia Coppola was nominated six years earlier for Lost in Translation). She won the award over James Cameron for Avatar, the highest grossing movie of all time.

     It is hard to say for sure what movie deserved the win the most. I'd say it was a shoe in for The Hurt Locker to win. A war movie directed by a woman in the 21^st century certainly has an “It is time” ring to it. But the last time the all time box office champion was nominated, it won (Titanic, 1997) so I certainly wasn't counting Avatar out. It would have been interesting if an animated movie, Up, had taken home the statue. It was only the second animated movie to be nominated for the award, following 1991's Beauty and the Beast which lost to Silence of the Lambs. A third animated movie, Toy Story 3, will be nominated next year but fell to The King's Speech. I felt Toy Story 3 actually stood a chance though; it is one of the best animated movies I've seen. 

     But check out The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sometime. Another non-academy material movie that really stands out. I enjoyed The Hurt Locker but it didn't blow me away, pun fully intended. But I'm clearly wrong. The late Roger Ebert, one of the world's most well-respected critics, called The Hurt Locker the second greatest movie of the century only behind Synecdoche, New York. Yeah, I've never heard of it either.