'Hurt Locker' Hits Home
Renner hopes new Iraq film reaches Soldiers, families
by Josie Cellone
There’s a scene in “The Hurt Locker,” right after Staff Sgt. William James (played by Jeremy Renner) returns from Iraq, when he goes to the grocery store with his wife. She asks him to pick out a box of cereal, and in the absurd contrast of a combat zone and a cereal aisle, he becomes paralyzed by the choice.
Many military families will relate to this scene, when their loved ones return from making life-or-death decisions daily and face the overwhelming transition back to civilian life.
“The Hurt Locker,” which rolled out to movie screens nationwide this month, has received critical praise, dubbing Renner’s turn as a bomb squad specialist a “breakout performance.” Renner spoke with Military Spouse about the new movie and how he hopes it helps Soldiers bridge the gap between Iraq and the home front.
What was it like shooting a movie about modern-day combat?
The conditions were arduous. We’re shooting three kilometers from the Iraqi border, in the desert, in Palestinian refugee camps, in 125 degree heat, in 100-pound bomb suits. We wanted to make it as accurate as we possibly could.
War movies often rely on special effects, but “The Hurt Locker” almost looks like it was shot on a handheld video camera.
The director Kathryn Bigelow wanted a very specific boots-on-the-ground feel. It’s a movie that doesn’t bring you in, it yanks you in. You’re taken through two hours of intensity, of day-to-day life in Iraq. When we were filming, the cameras were almost non-existent. We shot in big, long 15-minute takes – it felt like we were doing a play, not a movie. The flies in our mouth are real, sweat is sweat. We didn’t have any makeup.
Did filming this movie give you a new respect for the Soldiers?
Absolutely. Most people don’t have the courage to do what they do. The film allows the audience to form their own opinions and thoughts. It doesn’t tell you what to think and feel; it just tells you to think and feel.
In the opening scene, a wheel falls off a robot sent to disable a potential bomb and the bomb squad must approach in person. How do such simple things become so charged?
Their job is disarming bombs, and that’s the kind of warfare right now. It’s not hand-to-hand combat; it’s the roadside bombs that are killing people. They get calls that someone saw wires or something’s fishy, and they must locate and find and render safe that IED. The movie shines a light on a small fraction of their job.
Is it true they cast unknown actors in the lead role to elevate the suspense?
Yeah, they didn’t want to cast a big name. Tom Cruise would be great in the role, he would rock it out, but he’s never died in a movie and that takes out some of the suspense. They wanted to work with up-and-coming fresh actors, and keep everyone more on edge because you don’t know who’s going to make it to the end.
What was it like to work with Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”), who plays your wife?
She’s adorable, she’s so great. I got to work with her in very different circumstances, back at home. I was a lot happier at that point, I was out of the Middle East. And she’s just gorgeous.
Tell us about that scene where she asks you to pick out a box of cereal and you simply can’t choose.
That scene seems to resonate a lot with Soldiers and the families of Soldiers. I was in Jordan for three months shooting a movie – I wasn’t even in war, I was pretending to be in war – and I didn’t leave my house for almost three months when I got back. Being on an island and not being able to communicate to your family all that transpired – it’s frustrating.
Do you think it’s hard for people back at home to understand what’s going on over there?
I think it’s impossible to fully grasp or understand what’s happening – in any war.
My biggest hope for this film, in talking to military spouses, in talking to families, is to bridge that gap of the Solider being on an island and being unable to explain what he went through. This is as close as you can possibly get to understanding the experience of your son or husband or brother without being there.