2020 Blind Spot Series: Point Break (1991)

It has been so long since I added Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break on my watchlist that I completely forgot what the film was about and went it knowing only one thing, that it was about surfing. So you can get my surprise and then disappointment when the film turned out to be a predictable action-crime thriller. 

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Four years after the brilliant The Hurt Locker, which earned her an Oscar for Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow came back with another war film, Zero Dark Thirty, the film I've been meaning to watch but kept putting off because of its genre and length for the past seven years. Netflix adding it to their catalogue was the push I needed to finally watch the film and I'm glad I spent 157 minutes to watch it as it turned out to be such a gripping thriller all the way through, with great performances from its cast.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Genre

Drama | Thriller | War

Director

Kathryn Bigelow

Country

United States

Cast

Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Christian Camargo, David Morse, Ralph Fiennes, Evangeline Lilly, Christopher Sayegh

Plot

During the Iraq War, Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner), recently assigned an army bomb squad, is put at odds with his squad mates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) due to his maverick way of handling his work.

Opinion

At first I thought this was just another war film Americans love, but I was wrong. The Hurt Locker is about war, addiction, courage and alienation.

Beautifully directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film is full of suspense and action. The cinematography by Barry Ackroyd is outstanding, and truly captures the Iraq War, but also war in general, in its rawness and brutality.

Jeremy Renner delivers an excellent performance as Sergeant Will James, a man addicted to danger and adrenaline. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, as Sanborn and Eldridge, James's partners, are impressive in their roles, and they do act like real soldiers.

Buy on Amazon.com | Buy/Rent on Amazon Instant Video

Quotes

Sergeant William James: [Speaking to his son] You love playing with that. You love playing with all your stuffed animals. You love your Mommy, your Daddy. You love your pajamas. You love everything, don't ya? Yeah. But you know what, buddy? As you get older... some of the things you love might not seem so special anymore. Like your Jack-in-a-Box. Maybe you'll realize it's just a piece of tin and a stuffed animal. And the older you get, the fewer things you really love. And by the time you get to my age, maybe it's only one or two things. With me, I think it's one.

Rating

9.0/10