Best Picture nominee #4: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year and definitely a front runner for this year's Best Picture award. It is probably the best film yet to be made about the war in Iraq. War veterans have attacked the film by saying it inaccurately portrays wartime conditions. But let's face it, controversy always falls upon Best Picture candidates before the Oscars. Slumdog Millionaire was accused of exploiting its child actors and A Beautiful Mind was slammed for "whitewashing" John Nash's life by excluding Nash's alleged anti-semitism and his divorce and remarriage to his wife. Despite these allegations, the cast and crew of The Hurt Locker did their best to make the film as authentic as possible. The film was actually shot in the Middle East, some locations were less than a couple of mile from the Iraqi border.

The film is about the everyday dangers faced by an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit during the early months of the Iraqi invasion. Sergent First Class William James becomes the new leader of an EOD unit after the previous leader was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED). His methods of approaching an expected IED lead the rest of his team to consider him reckless. He approaches an IED before sending in a bomb disposal robot. If he is told to abort, he stubbornly removes his headset and continues to work. The skills he possesses are unmatched despite his somewhat cocky attitude.

In my opinion, The Hurt Locker is the odds on favorite to win the Oscar.

imdb.com rating: 8.0/10
rottentomatoes.com rating: 97%

The Byrd's Eye View: 8.4/10