The Hurt Locker: You don't have to be a hero to do this job. But it helps.

My first thought when Kathryn Bigelow won the Best Picture Academy Award for The Hurt Locker was wow, she not only beat her ex-husband James Cameron and his $2.5 billion, chart topping Avatar, but also the heavy-hitting popular movies such as District 9 and Inglorious Basterds. And that's not to mention the indy-style films like An Education and A Serious Man the Academy favored last year by giving the Oscar to Slumdog Millionaire, as well as the Cinderella-story cliche of Precious, the Family movie stab made by Up, and the critical acclaim held by Up in the Air and The Blind Side.

I was a little afraid the Academy had picked one of those terribly boring, average, depth-less movies that are considered "art" by awards communities, instead of going with a good, deep, meaningful movie such as some of the other nominations. I was terribly wrong.

Hurt Locker was surprisingly well made, well thought out, and well acted, and completely overshadowed Avatar, Blind Side, and Up (The only 3 Oscar nominees I have yet seen.) Not one to get worked up about movies, I was glued to the edge of my seat.

The characters were unique and entertaining, but without falling into the cliche stereotypes Hollywood loves so much. The one problem I did have was one particular character that seemed to drift away during the movie. When the movie began, he was a joking, teasing comrade and friend with the other soldiers. Very soon, he became a disturbed man constantly thinking of death; both his own and other peoples'. This could possibly be a result of seeing his team leader die, but later in the movie, he became just another soldier who is angry about being injured, rather than wanting his life to end. Although he contributed greatly to the movie, some consistency would have added greatly.

The idea of a soldier who disarms bombs for the adrenaline rush to the extent that he stops caring about everything else is golden. The quote at the beginning of the movie, "War is a drug" seemed irrelevant until the end of the movie, when it all tied together. On the whole, this movie is a work of art from start to finish.


It was beautifully framed and filmed, showing Katheryn Bigalow's ability to capture characters by more than just cleverly placed lines and timed expressions, but by the way the walk, the way they look when nobody else is watching, the way they respond to actions around them, and the way they solve their problems. While the characters in this movie might not have been as eccentric or exaggerated as in most movies, they had a depth and a quality to them that no amount of acting or characterizing can provide.


This movie was a jewel of a war movie. Although I have seen very few of the Oscar Nominees, this one tops them all hands down. It's not just another action packed, stereotyped war movie, it's a work of art with a real depth most movies can only scratch the surface of. If you haven't seen this movie yet, get out there and watch it, you won't be disappointed.