You know those recommendations you get on sites like Amazon when you browse for DVDs? The ones that say things like “People who liked this movie also liked…”? That’s how I first heard about The Hurt Locker, and I’m pretty glad I did. If you thought Black Hawk Down set the standard for modern war movie you should definitely check it out. No other movie I’ve seen gets you this close to what it must be like to be a soldier in Iraq.

I’ve read forum posts where veterans of the war in Iraq discard this movie as being unrealistic, and it probably is. But to the untrained eye it looks utterly realistic, and you can tell a lot of attention was paid to details. I guess the average soldier’s tour of duty simply doesn’t make for a gripping movie, and this may well be the best compromise between realism and entertainment stricken to date.

The Hurt Locker chronicles the last 39 days of their tour for a three man explosives squad. Most of the scenes are of them at work, but don’t expect this to be the kind of movie where they cut the right wire just as the clock reaches 00:01. This is nothing like that. If anything it’s about the psychological effects of putting your life at risk on a daily basis. Violence isn’t glorified and looks grim and realistic.

Jeremy Renner is brilliant as SSgt. William James, who’s seemingly rash behavior causes conflict in the team. Most of the cast is pretty unknown, and in fact the life expectancy for more well-known actors seems downright terrible. The (mostly lack of a) musical score adds to the realism, and so does the documentary-like direction.

The most surprising thing about this movie for me was that it was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, a woman. This is such a guy movie. She did an amazing job and created one of the more interesting movie’s I’ve seen this year.