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Michael Barnes is the Austin American-Statesman's social columnist. He lives in South Austin with his partner, Kip, two dogs and two cats. More on Out & About.

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The entry titled "'The Hurt Locker' bears the truth of war."

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Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > July > 29 > Entry

‘The Hurt Locker’ bears the truth of war

By Michael Barnes | Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 12:23 PM

The advance buzz on “The Hurt Locker” didn’t mislead. Published and verbal reports accurately telegraphed that it would break with the received notions about war movies.

The only previous war movie it recalled is “Jarhead,” this time without the distraction of Jake Gyllenhaal’s searing good looks. In fact, I didn’t really recognize the leads — Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty — at all. Which made their performances more convincing, lacking the filter of celebrity personae.

Pegged as an action film — witness the virtually all-male audience at the Arbor Theatre — “The Hurt Locker” bears the truth of war. Especially the Iraqi war.

On a lighter note, for Oscar handicappers, this one’s got to be in that Top 10.

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