The Hurt Locker

Addiction is a powerful force that drives those caught in its grasp to do illogical, selfish, and moronic things. In search of the next high, addicts stop at nothing. The drive and compulsion consumes and manipulates the physical body, the critical mind, and the sensitive heart. What once was too potent is not enough. Addiction can take the form of sex, drugs, alcohol, and as “The Hurt Locker” points out – adrenaline.

“The Hurt Locker” is about a group of soldiers in Iraq whose daily job is to dismantle roadside bombs. In the film, we watch them deal with their last 38 days of active duty. The three men each have unique characterizations. Sgt. Sanborn is a solid, level headed thinker who appears to be a fearless soldier with his wits about him. Spc. Eldridge is more timid, appearing to be aware of the possibility of death at every corner. Then there is Sgt. James. Sgt. James is an adrenaline addict.

After an incredible opening sequence, director Katheryn Bigelow sets the tone and makes some ground rules. First – no one is safe. Second – everything is game. As a result of the first sequence, it is anyone’s guess as to what will happen next. Since the stars of the film are not typical A-listers (which is smart casting for this film), I developed a different attachment to the events on screen.

Bigelow uses every object on screen to create tension. I found myself looking at objects and movements on screen guessing what role they might play in the film’s events. Is the phone just a phone? What about the videocamera, or the seemingly desperate man and his claims in the city square? As a result of the tools at Bigelow’s hands, everything has the possibility to create tension. She mostly succeeds in creating the tension in nearly every frame.

However, the film began to fall a little bit flat to me due to its logic. I began questioning how Sgt. James got away with so much broken protocol. Surely, in a film about soldiers and war, this man – who is supposedly a brother with his fellow soldiers – wouldn’t act so recklessly putting them in harms way, right? And wouldn’t his commanding officer reprimand him instead of praise him for some of his decisions? Or what about the stupidity of staying in place when the person occupying it before you was killed there by gunfire? It just doesn’t make sense.

But after thinking more about the film, it became clear that “The Hurt Locker” is as much about the psychology of an addict as it is about the psychology of the US armed forces. Dismantling bombs plays out like getting more and more intense hits off of a drug – each man is playing with something that could destroy them in a heartbeat. Too much exposure or too many risky decisions, and death is certain. The parallels to substance abuse are everywhere.

But simply dismantling bombs is not enough of an adrenaline high and things get riskier as the film moves on. It becomes clear that Sgt. James is not dismantling bombs in service of his country. He is doing it in service of himself. Each successive bomb situation is approached with greater degrees of intensity, increasing the amount of adrenaline pulsing through Sgt. James veins. To say much more would be spoiling a lot, but the things Sgt. James does becomes increasingly riskier. He goes to get his high at the risk of not only his life, but the lives of his fellow soldiers. He is out of control. It is not about following protocol, it is about getting fueled and high on adrenaline. With this view, my thoughts about the “The Hurt Locker” grew more appreciative. The film is more concerned about the characters than it is about right or wrong.

On the imdb.com message boards for the film, people who allege to be soldiers or familiar with the world of the armed forces point to how unrealistic much of the film is. Should this be true, I find it disappointing that Bigelow didn’t take better care of some of the details in the film. More authenticity would have made the film stronger. However, what we are left with is a really good movie with lots of tension and energy that shows patterns and parallels of addiction.