... a number of active soldiers and veterans say the film is Hollywood hokum, portraying soldiers as renegades while failing to represent details about combat accurately.
The criticism, coming just before Oscar ballots are due Tuesday, highlights the delicate relationship between "The Hurt Locker" and the nation's armed forces. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says the film is "authentic" and "very compelling" and has recommended it to his staff. But the government says it pulled its "Hurt Locker" production assistance at the last minute in 2007, saying that the film's makers were shooting scenes that weren't in the screenplay submitted to the Defense Department, including a sequence that the government believed portrayed troops unflatteringly. The film's producers dispute elements of the account.
Frankly, I don't care if it's accurate or not. It's gritty, suspense-filled and has a captivating story. If some of the details aren't quite right or if some of the details - or characters - are exaggerated from how things are in real life, so be it. I didn't expect the film to be a documentary when I went to see it. What I went to see was a captivating story set in a war zone.
And that's what I got.
The Hurt Locker is certainly one of the best films I've ever seen, real or not, and I hope it does win Best Picture. After all, it got the Destructo Seal of Approval©.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment