The Hurt Locker

I've got to start with this, I can't wait until the end - I'll be very disappointed if The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture at the Oscars.

It's not that it isn't a good movie - it is a good one - but it's just not 'Best Picture' good in my opinion.

Having said that I'm not sure Avatar is worthy of the gong either and I wonder if this is the one that has been picked to prevent the over-hyped film from winning the award (much like Crash in Brokeback Mountain's year).

That rant aside, The Hurt Locker is an interesting look into the lives and minds of men sent to war in Iraq.

After a cameo from Guy Pearce at the start we focus on Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner). On the surface he is a cavalier bomb defuser who seems unaffected by the trauma of going to war and the fact that he's risking his life every day.

His team members JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are acutely aware of the dangers involved, particularly Eldridge who is suffering severe emotional strain and wants to give in more than once.

This is a war film but above all else it is a film about human emotions, how we deal with extreme situations and the different ways we deal with them.

The two standouts are Renner and Geraghty. They have very polarised takes on their jobs with James not really affected by war, in fact he's hooked on it, until faced with a tragedy that is a little personal while Eldridge falls apart a number of times but dusts himself off when he's called on.

I must admit The Hurt Locker was a bit slow to begin but once the characters were given time to develop it really picked up. There are a number of disturbing scenes and a number of very powerful scenes and there is a level of tension at times though not a consistent one.

I am not a film maker, certainly not a director, so I don't want to knock anyone's achievement in making the film but I don't see what is so exceptional about this that warrants the hype (again, I say the same about Avatar aside from the groundbreaking effects and use of 3D - the story was very pedestrian) for both director and the overall film.

If that sounds negative towards the movie I don't mean it - I'm merely pointing out that, away from all the hype there is a good film in there with some excellent performances. But's that's all it is, a good film, a 7.5 out of 10 for me.

It's not a film you can say you 'enjoyed' but it is worthwhile, though I don't need to see it again.