Movie reviews

Movie Reviews this week looks at the Oscar-winning, hard-hitting Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker.

It stars Jeremy Renner (28 weeks later) as Sergeant First Class William James, an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) bomb disposal expert, who has been sent into Bravo Company, at Camp Victory. We join the movie as Staff Sergeant Matt Thompson played by Guy Pearce (Memento) along with Sergeant JT Sanborn played by Anthony Mackie (Half Nelson), and Specialist Owen Eldrigde played by Brian Geraghty (Bobby), are attempting to disarm an IED, that has been put there to kill and maim as many civilian and military personnel as possible, Thompson is the bomb expert while the other two soldiers are to watch for any problems, i.e. anyone interfering and to keep the people relatively safe.

Unfortunately things do not go as planned, and James soon joins Bravo Company. However his innovative or carefree (as his fellow soldiers regard it) methods at bomb disarming don't go too well with Sanborn and Elridge, there is a memorable scene where Elridge tells one of his commanding officers, after he asks how he is doing, he says that his team leader is inspired, and mentions sarcastically that his team leader is going to get him killed, the commanding officer, mentions that he shouldn't be having these kinds of thoughts, that war is a one in a lifetime opportunity, as Elridge looks distantly, the audience cannot help wondering at the indirect sarcasm in that statement, as Elridge tells asks him if he knows what it is he and the other men do every day, his commanding officer states that he has had his time on the field, to which Elridge sarcastically asks "Where was that...Yale"?

Matters come to a heated exchange when James attempting to disarm a bomb, that is extremely complicated, removes his bomb suit, so as to get comfortable, as he puts it "If I am going to die today I might as well die comfy", even going as far as to throw away his radio as Sanborn constantly tells him that there are "too many eyes" watching them and they have to move.

We get a little glimpse at the difficult problems facing the military in Iraq, attempting to liaison with the local population (there is a charming boy who sells DVDs that has made friends with some of the soldiers; nicknamed Becks; who James gets friendly with over a game of soccer, and the ice is broken over his namesake, Beckham, but the boy states he is much better than Beckham), often meeting language barriers, and at the same time not trying to seem dictatorial, but requiring them to keep at a safe distance while they try and do their job.

The acting in the Hurt Locker is top-notch all the way, and the movie is shot almost documentary style, with close-ups of the soldiers and the mass of emotions they go through during many tense moments. You can see why this is the first movie to have a woman, Kathryn Bigelow winning the Best Director Oscar.

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Labels: Anthony Mackie, bomb disposal, Brian Geraghty, film review, film reviews, films, Guy Pearce, Iraq, Jeremy Renner, Katheryn Bigelow, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, The Hurt Locker, the hurt locker movie, War

This is a very powerful war related drama detailing some of the emotional turmoil that are not touched on when dealing with war, starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko) and Tobey Maguire (Spiderman) as Tommy and Capt. Sam Cahill respectively, two brothers with Sam a respected member of the army and about to be deployed to Afghanistan, while Tommy is the brother frequently involved with clashes with the law.

We join the movie as Sam leaves for Afghanistan, but not before collecting his brother Tommy from his most recent stint in prison. It turns out Sam is the pride and joy of their father Hank (played by the veteran Sam Shepard [Stealth]) unlike Tommy, who their father regards as a constant disappointment. The relationship between Tommy and their father is elaborated during a birthday meal at Sam's place, prepared by his wife Grace, played by the gorgeous Natalie Portman (still the wonderful actress that first graced our screens in Leon), Tommy tells Grace that the meal is very good, to which his father says "Compared to what...jail"?

Soon after being deployed to Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down, and the dreaded news is brought to Grace. That same night, Tommy true to form so far, comes to the house drunk, having brought back the keys of Sam's car, as Sam told him to use it whenever he wanted before he left for Afghanistan, only to be told the sad news.

The news of Sam's death brings a change to Tommy, and he tries to make up the gap of a father figure Sam's daughters Maggie and Isabelle, played by Taylor Geare and the wonderfully talented Bailee Madison (Phoebe in Wonderland), when Tommy first came to the house before Sam was deployed to Afghanistan, Isabelle opens the door and tells him that their mother doesn't like him (which she can overhear, and gently scolds her not to say such things, but to be fair Tommy takes it in his stride), but after a while the two girls cannot get enough of their uncle, as he does all the things they like, ice skating, snowball fights, much to the delight of Grace, and it becomes apparent that there is an attraction between Tommy and Grace, but the morality of taking such a relationship further seeing Sam has just been lost in Afghanistan is a stumbling block that neither Grace nor Tommy may be willing to confront, but this is one of the interesting parts of the movie.

For whatever reason Tommy does enjoy coming to pay Grace a visit (and his father does seem to have taken a change towards him, seeing his most treasured son is lost), and uses the opportunity to fix the kitchen, and play with his nieces, but the audience wonders if some spark may happen between the two.

The stellar cast bring out the conflicting emotions well on screen, from the torn brother, and lonely wife, the movie is exciting on how the various conflicting emotions all pans out, as well as the subject matter that is hardly given any preferential treatment when dealing with the war genre.

Labels: Afghanistan, Bailee Maidson, Brothers, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Jake Gyllenhaal, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Natalie Portman, romance, Sam Shepard, Taylor Geare, Tobey Maguire, War

This is a very well made war related drama, following two soldiers who notify relatives of their loved ones who have died in combat.

It stars the stalwart Woody Harrelson (No country for old men, Zombieland) as Captain Tony Stone, who has hand selected Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, played by the brilliant Ben Foster (Pandorum, Birds of America, Angel in X-men: The Last Stand) to join him on his rounds.

Will has just come back from a deployment in Iraq, where he had three months left for his tour, but he and his platoon were caught up in an IED (Improvised Explosion Device) that has left him with a limp, and constantly needing eye drops for his left eye. We meet Will as he is called in to see his commanding officer, where he is told he is to be assigned to Tony (who is in the room, and a veteran of Operation Desert Storm). His commanding officer says for the job of notifying relatives of the passing of their loved ones, they need someone who is absolutely calm, and they believe he fits the bill, although Will resists that he has no counsellor training, he eventually agrees.

Tony discusses the job and responsibilities of the role, he stipulates there is to be no touching of the relatives, not even a hug, no mincing of their words, use either "dead" or "died", not "gone missing", he tells a story of a woman who was told her son "was no longer with us" and she spent a considerable amount of time thinking that he had defected to the other side. He is given a manual of the rules, and a beeper, that he should respond to at any hour of the day or night.

It turns out apart from his injuries Will had another heavy issue on his heart, that of his girlfriend Kelly played by the lovely Lena Malone (Donnie Darko), who he let go, and is soon to be married to someone else, although they do have some kind of a strange relationship, it turns out as Will puts it he let her go so she wouldn't get any visits from the likes of Tony.

The two soldiers who are at disputes over the interpretation of the rules, and their duties, soon become close, and reveal to each other some of their deepest pain, Tony in his battle with alcoholism, and Will with the pain of his ex.

In amongst this they constantly face up to a barrage of abuse from relatives who have just been told of the terrible news of the passing of their loved ones, and each time you wonder and hope it doesn't escalate into something ominous for the two soldiers, as there is no one else for the relatives to take out their rage, anger and frustration at that precise moment after learning of the death of a loved one than the two soldiers who are unfortunate enough to have brought them the news.

On one occasion, a wife Olivia Pitterson played by the gorgeous Samantha Morton (Minority Report, The Libertine), who had been told of the bad news, does not display the typical reactions Will and Tony have come to expect, she even thanks them for telling her the news, and mentions it must be difficult for them, Will goes back to find out if there is anything she needs, or maybe to determine why she displayed hardly any emotion, and it soon becomes obvious he is falling for her.

It is a very emotionally charged tale, and puts in focus the very difficult job of passing on the terrible news to relatives of members of the army, who have been lost in combat; in a scrutinizing and raw light.

Labels: Ben Foster, drama, film review, film reviews, films, friendship, Iraq, Lena Stone, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, romance, romantic, Samantha Morton, The Messenger, War, War dead, Woody Harrelson

I was surprised by how much I liked this movie, it tells the story of a 300 spartans war against a million persians, it is based on a Frank Miller's comic fiction about the true story, of 300 of the Greek King Leoniades fight against a foe of ginormous proportions in a million Persians, although in reality the 300 were supported by a few thousand locals, reality aside, this is a fascinating movie, the callousness of war and murder, are put aside in the spirit of freedom, and the fight from slavery, being seen as a prelude to the era of indepence and democracy we enjoy today. Released when the war following September 11 was at still in it's most fearsome this movie no doubt fueled the surge in many joining the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The lead is played effectively by Gerald Butler( Dracula 2000), and the lovely Lena Headley(The Sarah Connor Chronicles) plays his queen Gorgo, David Wenham (Faramir in Lord of the Rings the two towers)plays Dilios, as well as Michael Fassbender(Azazel in Hex) as Stelios, and Rodrigo Santoro(Scarface the world is yours) as the arch nemesis Xerxes.

I was impressed by the direction, and the beautiful pictureque scenery. It seems everybody in there were in tip top physical shape, as I don't recall a movie where everybody had a six pack. The ability to pump your blood in the mood of the spartans ultimate war with impossible odds against the Persians is what makes this enthralling.

Labels: 300, Action, Frank Miller, Gerald Butler, History, Lena Headey, Leonidas, Movie Reviews, Myth, Persian, War