Kathryn Bigelow deserves the Oscar for her magnificent work here – a girl doing a guy story through the eyes of a girl. She observes all the macho by play and posturing but doesn’t buy into it – but doesn’t simplistically bag it either. This reminded me a lot of Journey’s End – not an overtly anti-war piece, it simply says “this is the way that it is”, and is all the more effective for that. Also like Journey’s End you automatically assume X is going to die and are thrown to realise they don’t.
Watching this it’s also clear the American’s haven’t really learned how to fight a police action since Vietnam – they still have these massive outposts and drive convoys in which they are terrified of every foreigner they run into. It seems Americans are still stuck in the siege/forts/stagecoach mentality. (Contrast them with the British mercenaries, who are low key and dressed like locals – mind you, the British still lose a few men and the Americans save them – but then this is an American film.) And why don’t the Americans insist on clearing a perimeter from everyone when disarming a bomb instead of allowing people to casually watch and film? It’s not very good acting.
Occasionally the drama scenes feel a bit flat – they’re okay, it’s just in comparison to the other stuff. I liked the cameos from Guy Pearce, David Morse, Ralph Fiennes and Evangeline Lilly – everyone earns their keep. Good acting from the mostly unknown lead players. The only bit I felt could have been cut out was when Jeremy Rimmer leaves the camp on his own one night – it’s not really needed, and there’s a sneaking-through-the-streets-of-Baghdad scene later on.
2 comments:
I think you mean Jeremy Renner. I don't remember Sisto being in the movie.
You're totally right - apologies Jeremy if you ever read this!
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