Hurt Locker, The

Director Kathyrn Bigelow's previous films have ranged from the subline (Near Dark) to the ridiculous (Point Break). The Hurt Locker is neither. It is a beautifully constructed, tautly written character study about three young soldiers in the contemporary netherworld of Baghdad. Two of them are counting down the days until they are rotated out of Iraq. But, for one of the men, life back home in the states with a wife and baby holds less allure than defusing bombs in the battle-ravaged city. A fine cast and a terrifyingly realistic picture of the horrors of war (and this hellish war in particular) lift The Hurt Locker above the realm of the ordinary, even if the plot is fairly predictable and occasionally too familiar. Winner of the New York Film Critics' Best Picture and Best Director scrolls.