Of the nine nominations, 3 of them landed the movie on my list. A Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture nomination. It seems a lot of people I have read or heard comment find it surprising that it was nominated for Best Picture or Best Director. Many have very strong feelings on that as well. I can see why some feel the way they do, but I will get to that in a bit.
The movie follows Sgt 1st Class William James and his team through a tour in Iraq. James team is responsible for disarming IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices). James comes to the team after the team leader in charge of disarming before him had been killed. His unorthodox methods and reckless behavior do not make Sgt JT Sanborn very happy and there is quite a bit of tension between the two of them.
The synopsis is short and sweet, but I think it doesn't give much away. The one thing that I really liked about this movie is that it really isn't a political statement about the war. This despite the many comments by Bigelow being against the war. It doesn't really make that type of statement. However, it does explore or attempts to explore why some people seem to 'enjoy' war. For that matter it explores the psyche of a guy that seems to have a hero complex and is very reckless. Despite his recklessness he is very serious about his job, so serious that there are some repercussions. The main one being the belief that he is needed and the only one that can do the job that he is doing. It is an obsession with him.
Personally I can't understand it. I am as Patriotic as they come and am very supportive of the service men. However, I don't get these hero types and the ones that seem to be so gungho, they border on psycho. I knew a guy in college who was in the ROTC and he scared me. He didn't scare me in the way that I was afraid to be around him or that he might try to harm me. His Rambo delusion is what scared me. Here was a guy who if everything went as he planned, was going to be an officer in the Army. I had no doubt that this guy if given the opportunity would get a lot of men killed, because he had hero issues. It seems to me that for every guy that really doesn't want to be there fighting, there are a few more of these crazies. I don't suppose it was a coincidence that this guy was short. No disrespect to the vertically challenged, but the "Napoleon Complex" is not make believe in my opinion.
I guess that should lead me in to my discussion of the Best Actor nomination. Jeremy Renner was nominated for his role. He was competing with the following.
- Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart
- George Clooney as Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air
- Colin Firth as George in A Single Man
- Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in Invictus
His obsession with finding out exactly how each IED works seems to drive him, almost to compulsion. He saves all of the triggers from every bomb he has disarmed. To me it seemed to be a weird dichotomy of a souvenir but also an understanding into the mind of those who are trying to kill him. Almost an expose on how brilliant the human mind can be, even though the brilliance is shown in new and creative ways to trigger a bomb used to kill as many people as it can.
To me his best scene though is after he gets done with his tour and is finally home. Yet he longs for a return to Iraq. Even though he is home with his wife and child. Clearly he feels he is needed in Iraq more than he is at home. It was sad, sickening, and selfless all at the same time. Some may agree with me and others may not, but that is how that scene made me feel.
Next I will tackle the directing nomination. Bigelow was competing with the following directors. One which was her ex husband.
- James Cameron for Avatar
- Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds
- Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire
- Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
I haven't seen Precious so I can't really comment on Daniels job, but in my opinion Tarantino should have won, not Bigelow. Many people agree with me that Bigelow didn't really do a great job even if they may not agree with me about Tarantino. Regardless, the guy can flat out direct, and his writing makes his job as a director that much easier. To me he is like Woody Allen in some ways. To me both of their strength is dialogue and they know how to shoot the dialogue, how to frame it. Tarantino got screwed in my opinion.
Finally on to the Best Picture nomination. The Hurt Locker won and was up against these other movies.
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up in the Air
Either way I can live with The Hurt Locker winning even if I think another movie deserved it. Mainly because it was probably at worst the third best movie nominated. I am more surprised that The Blind Side didn't win. Touching movie and usually the sappy type of stuff that wins, but hardly the Best Picture.
So in the end I would have to say I liked the movie quite a bit. I found it very interesting how despite his unorthodox methods and a general distrust of William James, they began to respect him. It really made me wonder if there are more people out there like him, actually in Iraq and Afghanistan. A death wish perhaps. I'd be inclined to think they are out there, as evidenced by my earlier example. I'd give The Hurt Locker 4 out of 5 stars.
