The Hurt Locker
Onwards with my recapping of every Renner movie I watch and today is The Hurt Locker. I'm late to the game on this movie which I will openly admit. When it came out, I did not have a clear understanding of what the film was about so it didn't intrigue me. I honestly thought it was a political movie about the war in Iraq which I was/am not interested in. I am wary of movies about war to begin with because they have a tendency to over simplify conflicts into good vs bad guys when war is never that clear. I think the Iraq war is an especially touchy issue and I think a film about it could easily start to propagandize for or against the war, which I just don't want to see. So, I very unfairly judged this movie before I saw it.
I watched it for the first time a couple of weeks ago through netflix and within a week I felt the urge to buy it because I already wanted to see it agaub. I couldn't stop thinking about it, a very good sign of a film. I think the movie is one of the best films I've seen in a while and has a real shot of being in my top 10 movies of all time, if I ever could sit down and make a list. There is really nothing negative to say about the film. The writing is solid, with every word sounding authentic to soldier's life. It's not overwrought with grand speeches. The lines are gritty while still sounding like real people would speak them. The cinematography is stunning, part of the reason I insisted I get the blu-ray instead of the dvd. The pacing of the film is spot on. It's got really tense, slow parts with other looser parts that allow you to breath. The movie does not suffocate the viewer in seriousness either. There are small moments of sarcasm and light-heartedness that keep the movie moving along. The supporting roles are also great. It's actually kind of cool that such big actors such as Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes took such small roles.
Now to Renner and his character William James. James is probably one of the most interesting characters I've seen in any film. I love how ambiguous the character is. He is obviously cocky and a little bit of a dick, but some of the quieter moments, like with Beckham, show that he has this great heart. He is a fully formed character, that is not clearly good or bad; how most real people are. And the war took a part of him that craves and gets off on adrenaline and made it grow so it dominates his personality. If there was no war, we as viewers have to wonder would he be the person he is, a very valid question. As for Renner's actual performance, it is flawless. I completely understand how he got nominated for an Oscar and am disappointed retroactively that he did not win. His performance is nuanced and some of the most impactfull scenes are the ones where he is by himself. The scene where he lays in bed with the helmet haunts me for some reason and the shower scene is gut-wrenching. He is just brilliant and it's for this reason I really respect him. I will openly admit that I thought he was damn attractive in Avengers and that was the first thing I had seen him in. However, good-looking will only carry you so far in my book (for example Jackson Rathbone). There has to be something else there. Renner really is a phenomenal actor and that is the reason I am attempting to see all of his movies, not because he is another pretty face in Hollywood.
Finally, I just have to say I was completely wrong about this film being just some message movie about the Iraq war. The themes of this movie transcend this war; this film questions the effect of war, any war, on the men that fight it. That is something worth discussing and should be acknowledged more by society. Whether or not one agrees with the politics, men and women put themselves in danger for their country and that has serious consequences. This movie explored this in a very respectful manner. It's funny because my step-dad is conservative and I was telling him I was going to go see Legacy in theaters and he asked if he could join me. I just stared at him shocked. I asked why he would want to do that because earlier that day he was telling me he wasn't that much of a fan of the previous Bourne movies. He said he really liked Jeremy Renner after seeing The Hurt Locker and he thought Legacy looked good because of him. So, I mean if my dad was sold on both Renner and The Hurt Locker, there must be something to it, lol.
This isn't the type of movie to drool over the prettiness of Renner, but here are some of my favorite parts. Once again not my gifs of screencaps.
This whole sequence was stunning.
"Would you please put your comm back in"
I just love this shot.
Dead eyes as he puts the helmet and then him just laying there kills me.
Final Grades:
Jeremy Renner's Performance: +A (I give it the + just because it's the best performance he's given that I've seen.)
Need for Renner's character to get a hug (1-10): 9
Overall Movie: A
I watched it for the first time a couple of weeks ago through netflix and within a week I felt the urge to buy it because I already wanted to see it agaub. I couldn't stop thinking about it, a very good sign of a film. I think the movie is one of the best films I've seen in a while and has a real shot of being in my top 10 movies of all time, if I ever could sit down and make a list. There is really nothing negative to say about the film. The writing is solid, with every word sounding authentic to soldier's life. It's not overwrought with grand speeches. The lines are gritty while still sounding like real people would speak them. The cinematography is stunning, part of the reason I insisted I get the blu-ray instead of the dvd. The pacing of the film is spot on. It's got really tense, slow parts with other looser parts that allow you to breath. The movie does not suffocate the viewer in seriousness either. There are small moments of sarcasm and light-heartedness that keep the movie moving along. The supporting roles are also great. It's actually kind of cool that such big actors such as Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes took such small roles.
Now to Renner and his character William James. James is probably one of the most interesting characters I've seen in any film. I love how ambiguous the character is. He is obviously cocky and a little bit of a dick, but some of the quieter moments, like with Beckham, show that he has this great heart. He is a fully formed character, that is not clearly good or bad; how most real people are. And the war took a part of him that craves and gets off on adrenaline and made it grow so it dominates his personality. If there was no war, we as viewers have to wonder would he be the person he is, a very valid question. As for Renner's actual performance, it is flawless. I completely understand how he got nominated for an Oscar and am disappointed retroactively that he did not win. His performance is nuanced and some of the most impactfull scenes are the ones where he is by himself. The scene where he lays in bed with the helmet haunts me for some reason and the shower scene is gut-wrenching. He is just brilliant and it's for this reason I really respect him. I will openly admit that I thought he was damn attractive in Avengers and that was the first thing I had seen him in. However, good-looking will only carry you so far in my book (for example Jackson Rathbone). There has to be something else there. Renner really is a phenomenal actor and that is the reason I am attempting to see all of his movies, not because he is another pretty face in Hollywood.
Finally, I just have to say I was completely wrong about this film being just some message movie about the Iraq war. The themes of this movie transcend this war; this film questions the effect of war, any war, on the men that fight it. That is something worth discussing and should be acknowledged more by society. Whether or not one agrees with the politics, men and women put themselves in danger for their country and that has serious consequences. This movie explored this in a very respectful manner. It's funny because my step-dad is conservative and I was telling him I was going to go see Legacy in theaters and he asked if he could join me. I just stared at him shocked. I asked why he would want to do that because earlier that day he was telling me he wasn't that much of a fan of the previous Bourne movies. He said he really liked Jeremy Renner after seeing The Hurt Locker and he thought Legacy looked good because of him. So, I mean if my dad was sold on both Renner and The Hurt Locker, there must be something to it, lol.
This isn't the type of movie to drool over the prettiness of Renner, but here are some of my favorite parts. Once again not my gifs of screencaps.
This whole sequence was stunning.
"Would you please put your comm back in"
I just love this shot.
Dead eyes as he puts the helmet and then him just laying there kills me.
Final Grades:
Jeremy Renner's Performance: +A (I give it the + just because it's the best performance he's given that I've seen.)
Need for Renner's character to get a hug (1-10): 9
Overall Movie: A