LONE WOLVES: reviews of "The Hurt Locker" & "Big Fan"

“THE HURT LOCKER” Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
***1/2 (three and a half stars)

It has been a long time coming for Director Kathryn Bigelow and I am happy that she is finally getting the recognition she has long deserved, especially being one of the strongest in what has essentially been a male dominated genre: the action film director. She has toiled away for many years with 1991’s surfing, shoot ‘em up “Point Break” (starring Keanu Reeves and the late Patrick Swayze) and 1995’s “Strange Days” (a futuristic thriller written and produced by her ex-husband James Cameron) as her high points. Now, she returns with “The Hurt Locker” an Iraq war themed drama filmed with absolutely blistering fury.

The story is firmly centered around three soldiers on their 39-day tour of Iraq. The squadron includes the steady and responsible Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (an excellent Anthony Mackie), the increasingly rattled Specialist Owen Eldridge (played effectively by Brian Geraghty) and bomb tech, Staff Sergeant William James (played by Jeremy Renner), the team leader and wild card who consistently tempts the fates of himself and those around him to near devastating degrees.

Bigelow has achieved something extremely special as “The Hurt Locker” works as a straight-forward action film, a war movie and psychological drama all in one. Like Oliver Stone and Steven Spielberg before her, Bigelow places us right on the ground with the soldiers, giving us the horrific unpredictability of war and indisputable experience of how death can strike at any second. Each day is a mountain to be climbed and by day’s end, when life still remains, the body--as it restores itself through a punishing tension and release--gears itself up for another climb. The film is divided into sections presenting the count of remaining days of their tour and as the clock winds down to zero, the tension mounts as there are no guarantees in this specialized existence.

Renner does absolute wonders with his matter-of-fact performance as Sgt. James. His sleepy eyes and quiet voice certainly may make him one to be underestimated. Yet, he walks with rock star swagger and careless abandon despite death’s breath on his face every day. While he performs heroic acts and is willing to place himself at the forefront of danger, he never carries himself as a hero. In fact, he is a bit too relaxed considering his knife's edge responsibility of diffusing all manner of explosives; a trait which has definitely made him ferociously reckless as he has become addicted to the adrenaline rush, regardless of who is around him. Renner also quietly and effectively presents a man whose psychological scars are beginning to present themselves as he makes brutal errors of judgment during this tour. Yet, this life has become the only one that makes sense for him.


Bigelow, while creating a film that is decidedly apolitical, accomplishes two feats. While she certainly is showing appreciation, support and sympathy for the young people who selflessly place their lives on the line each day for us at home, she is also critical of the toil it places upon these people. For Sgt. James, the task of making life and death decisions has become a newfound normalcy, whereas the task of choosing a breakfast cereal from a grocery shelf has become daunting and crippling.

If I had anything to quibble about—and it is a light quibble at that—the episodic nature of the film did decrease any sustained tension for me, as the film as a whole just didn’t give me the cumulative effect, I think Bigelow may have desired. Some scenes did grow to a certain tedium here and there, as they all followed a formula of reaching a bomb and then going through the experience of diffusing it. That said, individual sequences (especially the opening two sections) are near excruciating in their tension.


Kathryn Bigelow’s directorial skill is punishingly masterful throughout and the film's final shot is a killer.


“BIG FAN” Written and Directed by Robert Siegel
*** (three stars)

Alone he sits in a tiny booth as a parking lot attendant, listening to the belligerent sonic wallpaper of AM radio sports call-in programs, while scrawling his thoughts onto a note pad. His contact with the outside world is purposefully minimal as he encapsulates himself within his composition and unshakable faithful support of his beloved football team, the New York Giants. Each day he continues to listen and write. He waits for his shining moment-like Clark Kent emerging from that phone booth as Superman-where his devotion and the power of his words will vanquish all forms of opposition towards his team. Once he has returned to the home he shares with his Mother deep into the evening, he gradually and defiantly places his telephone call into the talk shows of which he is a regular participant and known to all as “Paul From Staten Island.” His calls are not simply an extension of some hobby as the radio airwaves are his personal arena, his front lines of battle against anyone who dares to defy the power of the Giants and Quarterback Quantrell Bishop, in particular. His arch-enemy is the unknown “Philadelphia Phil,” fan of The Philadelphia Eagles. His name is Paul Aufiero and he is the compelling subject of Writer Robert Seigel’s debut directorial effort, “Big Fan,” an effective and dark character study that explores the dangerous levels of hero worship to which Paul descends.

Comedian Patton Oswalt (who also provided the voice of Remy the rat from Pixar and Brad Bird’s ”Ratatouille”) contributes a performance of surprising depth and complexity as Paul, another in a long-line of cinematic lone wolves. In fact, he appears to represent some sort of middle ground between two of Martin Scorsese’s classic characters--Travis Bickle (“Taxi Driver”) and Rupert Pupkin (“The King Of Comedy”), respectively—due to his feverish passion for the Giants and his increasing dissatisfaction with worlds outside of his own head space, which includes the family he was born into. In addition to living at home with his Mother, who is indeed a constant source of irritation as she constantly berates him, Paul is treated as the black sheep of his miserable family. His brother is a highly paid shyster and his mopey sister is married to a chain store owner and all of them endlessly goad Paul into trying to better himself in any conceivable fashion. However, he is just not interested and more than anything, he desires to be left to his own devices.

The central conflict of the film revolves a life changing moment when Paul and his sidekick Sal (played by Kevin Corrigan) spot Paul’s hero Quantrell Bishop (played by Jonathan Hamm) and tail him all the way into a Manhattan strip club. Finally delving up the nerve to approach his hero, the meeting erupts into a shocking act of violence that could possibly culminate with Bishop’s expulsion from the Giants. Here is where the film begins to take its several sharp conceptual turns. Paul fades into a growing depression and we are left to question whether it stems from the failed meeting with his hero or from the fact that Bishop may no longer be allowed to play, thus resulting in a series of losses for the Giants. Paul sidesteps cooperation with an investigating detective, sadly withdraws even more into his insular world and even his talk-show swagger suffers as a result of the controversy. And then, there is a confrontation to be had with Philadelphia Phil (a terrific Michael Rappaport)…

Strangely, I can relate to a guy like Paul…a little bit. Since we are all being honest here at “Savage Cinema,” I am certain that you would be able to relate to Paul, if even only a little bit, as well. For the life of me, I cannot remember the quotation about the negative aspects of circling terribly close to your own personal heroes but that insight came to mind often during this film as I traced my own history of hero worship. My love of the late John Hughes has been well documented, for instance. I also thought of concerts I have attended where the sight of an artist in person, who had previously only existed in a photograph or mostly as a voice through a set of speakers or headphones, is indeed a jarring one. It is almost a spirit made flesh. I also found myself returning to vivid memories I have of my own Father, who actually once trailed after the limousine carrying one of his heroes, jazz legend Miles Davis! At long last, on a completely different occasion, the two men finally met and shook hands (as did I as well, at the age of 17 when the weight of meeting the mountainous talent of an innovator like Davis was completely lost on me). “Big Fan” strongly explores the line where appreciation transforms to obsession and natural curiosity can be perceived as stalking..and madness may only be a few steps away.

Perhaps even Paul is aware of the lines blurring as there exists a particularly fascinating tidbit to this man. Despite his intense devotion to the Giants, he never actually attends a game within the stadium. He and Sal sit in his car and watch the proceedings via a small television powered by his car battery. It is as if he may feel that the Giants would be better served by him outside rather than in or maybe it is another way of keeping the world away or furthermore, he fears being in such close proximity to the love of his life. That's terrific material to explore and present and it is all to the credit of Oswalt and Siegel's impressive feature. After performing the hefty comedic task of serving as Senior Editor of the satirical newspaper The Onion for many years, it is more than impressive to witness Robert Siegel’s perceptive and insightful takes on members of society’s fringes with this film and his screenwriting of last year’s ”The Wrestler” starring Mickey Rourke.

As I think of those last images of Paul in “Big Fan,” I couldn’t help but to wonder that if he were more well-adjusted, and owned a computer, he could possibly channel his energies into something like…say, a blog concerning the wide world of sports in general and the New York Giants in particular. Yet, the film seems to be arguing that Paul is as adjusted as he is able and even wants to be. He truly has no interest in reaching out. This is a story of a man trying to keep the world away as much as possible so he can be free to live within the world of his making peacefully.


He is disturbed but there is something somewhat honorable about the guy. It may not appear to be much of a life to you and me, and maybe not even to Paul himself, but somehow he seems content and perhaps that is good enough to just let the man simply be.