BEFORE: It's time to stop messing around with dark comedies, and movies with people talking about war, and get down to the serious stuff - soldiers in the line of fire. And it's always a banner day when I get to cross an Oscar-winner off my list.
THE PLOT: An elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.
AFTER: This is an honest (?), realistic (?) portrayal of today's type of warfare - in the desert and the streets of Iraq, and filled with tough, tense situations. Defusing bombs is only part of the problem - reading (and misreading) the intentions of the locals is another part. So is a hot-shot Sergeant, who's an expert on the bomb tech, but determined to not play by the rules. Admittedly, the enemy doesn't play by the rules either, and their various I.E.D.'s (improvised explosive devices) make for a deadly game of one-upmanship between the bomb designers and the bomb de-fusers.
The film organizes itself around the last few days in the rotation of Bravo company, and as their time in Iraq winds down, that starts to look like a countdown itself.
I'm going to side with the Oscar voters here, and award high marks for giving average viewers a look at the psychology of someone who repeatedly puts himself into harm's way - without specifically saying (though perhaps implying) that such a person must be damaged goods somehow in order to do that. BUT...
NITPICK POINT: I felt there were a few too many times when the soldiers removed their helmets or other protective gear in tense situations. Sure, it looks very dramatic, but I have to believe that gear is meant to be worn for a reason.
Starring Jeremy Renner (last seen in "The Assassination of Jesse James..."), Anthony Mackie (last seen in "Half Nelson"), Brian Geraghty (last seen in "We Are Marshall"), with cameos from Guy Pearce (last seen in "Bedtime Stories"), David Morse (last seen in "The Crossing Guard"), Ralph Fiennes (last seen in "The Avengers"), and Evangeline Lilly.
RATING: 8 out of 10 pirated DVDs
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