Iraq War Thriller For Best Picture

The Hurt Locker is probably a front runner for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which are coming up this Sunday. The film is a war thriller about a bomb squad in Iraq and takes place shortly after the fall of Hussein's government. The movie has received critical acclaim for it's writing and direction, but also for the political message behind the plot.

In the film, Bravo company receives a new squad leader when the previous one is killed by an IED. The new squad leader is a bit of a cowboy, and tensions mount between him and his team as his methods continue to put their lives in danger.

The real star of the movie, however, is the war, or more to the point, the bombs. Several scenes involve Sergeant James calmly trying to disarm a bomb as threats start to increase around him and his frantic team. During these encounters, the soldiers have some heated conversations with Iraqis, who represent varying degrees of danger. It should be obvious to any neutral observer that some of these situations are just misunderstandings, and perhaps the United States Army should take a more friendly posture with the hearts and minds we are trying to win. Other times, however, the viewer really feels the danger that these soldiers are in and wants them to take dramatic defensive actions. With this push and pull of emotions, revolving around the safety of both the Americans and the Iraqis, director Kathryn Bigelow highlights the difficulty in conducting a war in which it is hard to tell friend from foe.

The Hurt Locker is a great movie, probably the best to be made about the Iraq war so far. It ask important questions about how much positive influence we can have in a place with such a different culture and language, and it has explosions, sniper battles and just enough suspense to keep anyone entertained.