The Hurt Locker

Floro's Late to the Party Movie Reviews - The Hurt Locker 

Guy Pearce/Jeremy Renner star in a movie that deserves almost all of the accolades it has received. Please note, it's not called the Happy Locker, or the Nothing Bad Happens Locker. It's the Hurt Locker. Things aren't super for our heroes.

There are many single words that can be used to describe this masterpiece (look, there's one!). Gripping. Cinematic. Tense. Unforgiving. Amazing.The scene depicted in the poster above is particularly awesome.

It puts you in your place, which is nailed to your seat, immediately. You are a silent observer to bomb defusers in war torn occupied Iraq. You can do nothing about what is happening; only bear witness. Deal with it. The Hurt Locker won't go back and explain any of the military terms or protocols, which forces the audience to be smarter and figure it out. When done well, this is a great choice in any story telling.

It took me until nearly 15 minutes after the final credits to make a certain realization about our two main guys' decisions in bomb defusal as the time is running out, and the ensuing consequences. I won't disclose what specifically here. I'll just say that the movie allows you to think of it on your own, but isn't diminished if you don't see it the way I did.

My only major complaint is that the main musical theme was very moving and memorable, but played so often during the Oscars, that it triggered painful memories of that waste of time. I got so tired of hearing it over and over. The fact that the Academy disagreed with me personally (except for Up) didn't help. I get why now, but I still wouldn't have gone with Best Picture against Up. I could have seen the Academy picking The Blind Side, Up in the Air, District 9, or even Inglorious Basterds to win also.

Seriously, the Oscars suck.

Simply wow. Not for all audiences mostly because of the setting and results, though it has some intermittent gore to boot. If you are in the mood to handle a tough movie, pick this one.