Oscar Big 10 Challenge: "The Hurt Locker"

Just two weeks away from the Oscars and it's time for me to get a move on. I've been on a major Damages bender. I've already watched nearly two seasons in just about three days. Yikes. I'd be embarrassed if the show wasn't completely amazing.

Back on topic. Today, a look at The Hurt Locker. I thought it would be appropriate considering director Kathryn Bigelow's recent wins at the BAFTAs: The Hurt Locker has earned her a best director and a best picture award.

As much as I love, love, loved Up in the Air, let me just go ahead and be real here. Jason Reitman has a shot, but I'm just forecasting based on recent outcomes in the awards circuit. It's safe to say that come the big night, this movie will be going head to head with James Cameron's Avatar. Let's weigh both movies. Avatar has received an enormous amount of commercial success, becoming the highest grossing film of all time (when not adjusted for inflation). The Hurt Locker has barely blipped the box office radar with $12 million, but yet the critical success has been astounding. Avatar has received its own amount of critical and fanboy success, but let's face it, James Cameron's holier than thou attitude about this movie is debatable. Was Avatar a game changer in science fiction? That's a debate that won't be argued here.

My take? Kathryn Bigelow did in this movie what James Cameron sought to do in Avatar, just without all the distracting bells and whistles: make a great movie that compels the audience to want more.

One last interesting tidbit about the two? They are exes. Going head to head with your ex wife/husband in the best director and best picture category? Oh, I can't wait 'til Oscar night.

The Hurt Locker centers around the story of Sergeant William James, the head of the bomb disposal unit stationed in Iraq. James is a renegade, and it's clear to his subordinates from their first mission that he's not afraid to put himself in the line of fire, as he recklessly pulls off his protective gear to dismantle an armed bomb.

This movie is a look inside war, but what makes it uniquely interesting and compelling is that it is surprising apolitical, and it does not force you to feel one way or another. It's simply a tense, potent look inside the world of bomb disposal units and a character study of the soldiers who put themselves in danger every time they strap on that suit.

Two big standouts in this movie: Jeremy Renner's portrayal of Sgt William James, and Kathryn Bigelow's cinematic vision. Jeremy Renner is definitely someone to watch out for. He didn't say much throughout this movie, and he didn't necessary need to. Kathryn Bigelow's direction in this movie is every bit Oscar deserving as any man ever was, and frankly, I'm thrilled to see her receiving so much critical success. The issue of women in Hollywood aside, this movie is effective and tense, but not over the top and it doesn't have that polished, Hollywood signature that alot of war movies tend to have, which is a good thing in this case. It gives the film more of an authenticity, and more of a potency to the story it's telling.

Final thoughts: go see The Hurt Locker whether or not you like war movies because it's not your typical war drama. It doesn't have high flying explosives left and right and it doesn't look like a huge Hollywood production, it's just an honest look inside the world of a soldier of a bomb disposal unit. My money (and hope) is on Bigelow to win best director at the Oscars.

My previous best picture reviews:
Avatar
An Education
Up in the Air

What's left:
A Serious Man
District 9
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
The Blind Side
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