The Hurt Locker

Director Kathryn Bigelow crafts one superb study of the psychology of war in “The Hurt Locker,” one of the best war films to be released in recent memory.

A new sergeant, James (Jeremy Renner) takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team in Iraq. He surprises his subordinates, Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), by treating each fatal situation with reckless abandon and seeming indifference to death. The men, especially the by-the-book Sanborn, struggle to reign in their new leader as they work to disarm bombs in the heat of combat.

Acting from the whole cast is excellent, particularly Renner who plays the passionate James well. This guy eats danger for breakfast; approaching unknown bombs, taking off his bulky protective suit for comfort, outstaying his welcome among potentially unfriendly locals. James only makes the already tense situations worse for his comrades.

Though he often throws caution to the wind, he can show sensibility and compassion, coaching Eldridge when he starts to crack on the battlefield. Hopefully this movie is a launches a long career for the talented Renner.

The first half of the movie is nonstop nail biting action. Bigelow masterfully builds tension and shifts moods in part with the handheld camera work. A true sense of foreboding permeates the whole picture. Characters are killed lest you forget. The Iraqis watching the troops also add a very unsettling touch. Any one of them could have a detonator in hand.

A story arc that has been set up wonderfully in the first half of the film appears in the second, though it may catch you by surprise. Set ups and payoffs are marvelously orchestrated. Character development happens on the battlefield and off.

“The Hurt Locker” is tense, well-acted, riveting entertainment. A must see.

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Public Enemies

Michael Mann is back after 2006’s god-awful “Miami Vice” with “Public Enemies,” which is thankfully an improvement. Johnny Depp stars as 30s gangster John Dillinger and Christian Bale as his FBI foil, Melvin Purvis.

Depp is pretty good as Dillinger. He’s indifferent yet cool as ice when he needs to be. It’s refreshing to see Depp play a human being again as opposed to all the cartoon like characters he’s been doing lately. He gets all the best lines too. Some of them are so good they seem to be from a different movie altogether.

That is perhaps what’s most frustrating about “Public Enemies.” It has flashes of a great, Oscar worthy picture, but they’re too few and far between. The last scene in particular has an aura of going for gold.

The movie prefers settling somewhere between good and not bad. The acting is solid but never enough to get you emotionally involved. The story is interesting, but lacks direction and strong conflict. I was looking for an electric match up between Depp and Bale, but the tension was only there in one instance.

Bale does nothing with his one note performance. Billy Crudup as the slightly imprudent J. Edgar Hoover is much more interesting. The subplot of the birth of the FBI was worthy of more screen time.

The project based on Bryan Burrough’s book, “Public Enemies,” was originally pitched to HBO as a miniseries. More time could have been given to Hoover, the FBI, and outlaws Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. This would have been nice here, but the picture belongs to Depp.

Marion Cotillard as Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette is one of “Public Enemies” greatest strengths. She adds a little weight and gives Dillinger a more human side to root for.

But in the end, I guess the lead and the viewer are both detatched; Dillinger from society, the audience from emotion. Despite the letdowns, “Public Enemies” is worth seeing. Who doesn’t want to see a gangster Johnny Depp run around robbing banks?

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