May God empower the good people of Iraq and the rest of the world.

Today, The Hurt Locker expands from Los Angeles and New York City to more cities around the United States. From beginning to end, it is an eye-opening, teeth-clenching thriller about a U.S. Army bomb squad, formally classified as Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD).

Jim O’Neil, executive director of the EOD Memorial Foundation of Niceville, Florida, endorsed this film. As a retired master explosive ordnance disposal technician and chief warrant officer for the U.S. Navy, his praise doesn’t come lightly.

Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow directing The Hurt Locker. (Summit Entertainment (c) 2008)

“This film is intense, but the world is intense,” said O’Neil. “EOD techs don’t give a flip about the political reasons for bombs; they just care about saving lives. These are people who voluntarily take that long walk into uncertainty.”

Director Kathryn Bigelow co-produced The Hurt Locker with screenwriter Mark Boal, Greg Shapiro and Nicholas Chartier. Bigelow’s previous films include Blue Steele, Near Dark, Point Break, Strange Days, and K19: The Widowmaker.

What’s her take on the bomb squads? “The fact that these men live in mortal danger every day makes their lives inherently tense, iconic, and cinematic,” Bigelow is quoted in the production notes. “And, on a metaphorical level, they seemed to suggest both the heroism and the futility of the [Iraq] war.”

“Futility”? We’ll get to that later.

Mark Boal’s background is journalism, and impressive at that. He co-wrote In the Valley of Elah, which was hailed by reviewers as an anti-war movie.

However, that film was based on his Playboy article, “Death and Dishonor,” the tragically true story of an Army veteran who found out that his son didn’t deserve to join the Armed Forces. (While I hate Playboy, Boal’s article is free online and it actually gives a little credence to the old excuse that some men buy this magazine for the writing.)

In 2004, Boal went to Bagdad and embedded with an EOD squad; then wrote “The Man in the Bomb Suit,” also for Playboy. That story is about an Army staff sergeant who had disarmed the most bombs in Iraq.

Boal said, “It made a deep impression on me. When I got home, I thought ‘people have no idea how these guys live and what they’re up against,’ and then later I started thinking about it dramatically and doing a fictional story about men who voluntarily work with bombs.”

He said “hurt locker” is slang for mental or physical pain. Then he added, “I’ve heard people say, ‘When the bomb goes off, I’m gonna be in the hurt locker.’”

In this movie, all performances are captivating. From the moment Jeremy Renner comes onscreen as the new squad leader, Staff Sergeant William James, he gets under my skin – then earns my admiration and affection – and annoys me yet again because I never know what he will do, nor does anyone else.

Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackey in The Hurt Locker. (Summit Entertainment (c) 2008)

Boal said, “He’s a fictional character, but I did certainly meet soldiers who were willing to take extraordinary risks. And you have to realize that the film takes place in a very specific time, 2004. It’s not representative of the entire war.”

At one key point in the film, I am baited into longing for James to have peace. However, he smiles to a song by the rock band Ministry; which is frightening to me, but energizing to Bigelow.

“As a filmmaker,” she said, “what’s very interesting is to either go against what you see or go with what you see. But we had really entered the soldiers’ psychology, especially that soldier, so that was the choice that I found to be most relevant.”

As the character Sgt. J.T. Sanborn, Anthony Mackey commands immediate respect, but in the heat of combat, he is tempted to do something evil.

Brian Geraghty in The Hurt Locker. (Summit Entertainment (c) 2008)

Brian Geraghty’s character, Specialist Owen Eldridge, is supposed to be searching and weaker than the other two, but he surprises everyone.

Bigelow and Boal should be proud of the film’s intimate documentary feel. They shot it in Jordan, recreating war-torn Bagdad with some 10,000 photos and eyewitness accounts. They also hired refugee Iraqi actors to play Iraqis. Consequently, when James sweats bullets in his 100 lb. bomb suit, everyone – whether ally, enemy, or moviegoer – sweats bullets too.

On the other hand, certain characters lack depth. For example, most of Boal’s Iraqis seem menacing and no one shows gratitude for the bomb squad’s lifesaving work.

Boal explained, “In 2004, American troops, from the bomb squad specifically, did not have a lot of interaction with the Iraqi public. There were not a lot of translators to go around. Nobody I met in Camp Victory – no American I’ve ever met there spoke Arabic. …

“This isn’t about the diversity of opinions in Iraq,” he said. “That would be a great subject for a movie that someone should do. But The Hurt Locker is about the daily life of bomb squad soldiers.”

Furthermore, only one man, a Muslim, has faith.

Boal said, “One of the characters had that component. It was actually based on one of the soldiers I talked to there [in Iraq]. He was very religious and he kept an image of the Virgin Mary in his helmet. But two characters ended up on the cutting room floor, him, and me as an extra. [Laughs]”

As we wrapped up the interview, I asked both filmmakers why people should see The Hurt Locker.

Boal said, “I hope people enjoy it because it’s meant to be the kind of movie you enjoy. At the same time, it’s got some substance to it and maybe it can be thought-provoking and people will come away with some appreciation of what’s going on over there.”

Then Bigelow said, “Perfectly put. I would just add to that even though it’s set at a particular time, I hope it will remind people that there are still men in harm’s way. If the movie does that, it would fulfill one of our ambitions.”

The Hurt Locker certainly honors our heroic bomb disposal squads, but it doesn’t prove that the Iraq War is futile. Instead, as retired Master EOD Tech Jim O’Neil said, it proves that “sometimes the news isn’t the bomb. Sometimes the news is the silence.”

(The Hurt Locker is rated R for violence and profane language.)

Copyright 2009, Anita Crane. All rights reserved. Published by SperoForum.com, RenewAmerica.com, CatholicExchange.com, TheCuttingEdgeNews.com.

War, Family and Faith

Gary Sinise and Filmmakers Reveal Faith

BY ANITA CRANE, REGISTER CORRESPONDENT

March 15-21, 2009 Issue | Posted 3/6/09 at 7:04 AM

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Behind the new film Brothers at War, which was scheduled to open in theaters March 13, are two Catholic stories.

One is that of a Catholic family struggling with issues of war and mortality; the other, of an established actor who has found inspiration in the Catholic faith to make a difference in the lives of those affected by war and terrorism.

In the R-rated documentary, Jake Rademacher, the eldest son in a Catholic American family, seeks to understand why two of his brothers serve in the U.S. Army and put their lives on the front lines.

Gary Sinise, star of “CSI: New York,” is an executive producer of the film, which was screened in Washington on Feb. 20.

Sinise revealed to the Register his developing relationship with the Catholic Church.

In Brothers at War, the Rademachers express their own struggles and their faith in God. Army Capt. Isaac Rademacher has led several combat missions in Iraq, and he describes his service as “a calling.” His younger brother, Sgt. Joe Rademacher, is an Army Ranger and sniper who served under Isaac in Iraq. Their parents, Dr. Dennis Rademacher and his wife, Nikki, are resigned to God’s will.

The Rademachers’ faith is one reason why Sinise got involved in Brothers at War.

“It’s a very positive portrait of an American family,” said Sinise. “I visit our service members all over the world on a regular basis, and I know who these people are. And this movie will help explain that a little more to the American people who might not understand the kinds of people that we have defending this country. In a time of war, we should know who our people are and why they do it.”

Capt. Rademacher said, “The soldiers in that film are the no-kidding, frontline, as-far-as-you-can-go troops. And they’ve seen a lot of action, and after you’ve seen and experienced that action, it’s when you let go. And you know it’s not really up to you, in terms of your time to die.”

Reflecting on his Catholic faith, Capt. Rademacher said, “If your personal requirement is to confess your sins, pray, whatever it may be to prepare yourself, then that’s what you do.”

Jake Rademacher also saw another side of fighting men. Marine Chief Warrant Officer David “Gunner” Kensington, who trains Iraqi troops, impressed him with his compassion, among other things.

In the film, terrorists come from Syria, attack the Iraqi soldiers and brutally injure two.

“One of the most amazing things I’ve seen and heard was that Marine softly stroking the side of the [wounded] Iraqi soldier’s face,” Rademacher said. After the battle, all eyes are on Kensington as he praises the Iraqis for their progress. Kensington tells the soldiers that if he should be killed they must continue to defend their country. Some of the Iraqi soldiers weep, then all rush to hug and kiss him.

Sinise’s Role

At the Brothers screening, active members of the U.S. military and veterans alike thanked all the producers, but the most poignant testimonies were directed to Sinise for his outreach to the U.S. military and victims of terrorism.

Retired Navy Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann announced that when one of his friends awoke from surgery, he saw Sinise watching over him.

One of the many projects Sinise cofounded is Operation Iraqi Children, an organization that helps U.S. troops and other Americans to save Iraqi children from squalor by providing school supply kits and other necessities.

Nahla Qader, a Sunni Muslim from Iraq, thanked him for that and more.

“You can see, Mr. Gary, that when you were in Iraq with your organization to save those children that they could say, ‘I love you,’” she said. “You could feel the gratitude in their hearts. But here I am. I’m telling you that you can touch this gratitude.” Then, Sinise ran from the stage and embraced her.

Discussing Qader’s gratitude two days later, Sinise said, “That was an amazing moment actually, for me, because I had never met her. I didn’t know her.”

As it turns out, a State Department official told Sinise about war victims in Afghanistan and Iraq. One boy’s arm had been blown off by terrorists, so Sinise paid for him to get a prosthetic arm in the United States. When Qader and her family gained asylum in the U.S., they had no credit or money, so he cosigned on their apartment lease and paid their rent. Thus, Qader said she’s teaching her children to make sacrifices for others.

Why is Sinise so generous to servicemen and people he’s never met? He said he’s grateful to all American military families. In fact, he knows what they do and what they endure because many of his family members are military veterans. Above all, he said he loves God and he’s inspired by the Catholic faith.

Sinise’s wife, actress Moira Harris, is Catholic. Therefore, he goes to Mass with her and said the Catholic faith has helped him put things into perspective. “It’s very, very positive in our lives,” he said.

“I am not a Catholic and have not practiced any particular religion, but [through] my wife, through her Catholic faith and through her devotion to the Catholic Church, I’ve become far more faith filled in the past eight or nine years than ever before.”

Copyright © 2009 Anita Crane. All rights reserved. This story may not be rewritten, republished or otherwise redistributed without prior written authority by the author and publisher, National Catholic Register.

Myrna Sokoloff and David Zucker.

If you couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs or Brian De Palma’s Redacted, consider treating yourself to An American Carol, which opens in movie theaters today. This gutsy satire by David Zucker challenges Michael Moore, Rosie O’Donnell, Barack Obama, the ACLU, the Recreate ’68 movement, the Hollywood establishment and even jihadists, but that’s not the half of it. After all, this Zucker comedy was sophisticated by Republican Myrna Sokoloff.

How did this Republican woman become a screenwriter and executive producer in Hollywood? Well, that was not so easy.

Myrna Sokoloff comes from a conservative Republican family in Connecticut. Yet when she moved to New York City and took a political job during Mayor Ed Koch’s administration, she found a one-party system as she represented Manhattan Borough President Andrew Stein in real estate development to the Jewish community.

In 1986, Sokoloff worked on ABC’s star-studded July 4 TV special Liberty Weekend and wanted to switch her career, so the producers told her that she should move to L.A. There, Sokoloff sometimes reverted to politics, such as working on Jerry Brown’s 1992 presidential campaign and as a staffer for Senator Barbara Boxer.

Sokoloff was a Democrat because she thought the DNC represented the downtrodden and the poor, especially women. “However,” she said, “as time went on, it seemed to me that the only [women's] issue became abortion.” Sokoloff deeply loves her family, especially her 17 nieces and nephews. Therefore, she became disturbed that Democrats and liberal women’s groups belittle moms who stay home to raise their families.

As President Bill Clinton was being impeached, Sokoloff suffered another rude awakening. “I became incensed,” she stressed. “If a Republican president had done what he did, the women’s groups would be out there protesting and saying he had victimized a young woman–but it was all about being Democrat.”

Shunned by the liberal sisterhood for her insights, suddenly Sokoloff was lonely. In solitude, she began listening to Rush Limbaugh because he made her laugh. Indeed, reality was over the top, so why not try to cure certain ills with comedy?

By 2004, the master of questionable taste and former Hollywood Democrat David Zucker befriended Sokoloff through the Republican Jewish Coalition. (Zucker’s long list of hits includes Airplane!, all three Naked Gun flicks, Ruthless People, and Scary Movie 3 and 4.) Appalled by the far-left reaction to the September 11, 2001 attacks on America, he and Sokoloff produced political TV spots, starting with the Club for Growth’s “Kerry Flip-Flop.”

Over the course of four years, Sokoloff and Zucker then wrote An American Carol with liberal Lewis Friedman,* who was “willing to sell his soul” for longtime friend David.

An American Carol is loosely–and they mean loosely–based on the Dickens masterpiece A Christmas Carol. As Grandpa (Leslie Nielsen) celebrates Independence Day, his grandchildren plead for a patriotic story. Grandpa takes them to MooveAlong.org’s annual Hollywood extravaganza, where indie filmmaker Michael Malone (Kevin Farley) is awarded for his boisterous ode to Cuba’s commie “health care,” but depressed because Die, You American Pigs! is a box-office bomb. Consequently, Malone cannot finance his feature debut, Fascist America, or muster much enthusiasm for his latest cause celebre to abolish the Fourth of July tradition. When a terrorist cell leader and his sidekicks (take that literally) come upon Malone, whose America-bashing documentaries are intensely popular in the Middle East, they see him as Allah-sent and tempt him with $10 million to make their next suicide-bomber recruitment video.

After Malone refuses to attend his nephew Josh’s (Travis Schuldt) July 4 family picnic, the ghosts of JFK (Chriss Anglin), General George Patton (Kelsey Grammer), George Washington (Jon Voight) and the Angel of Death (Trace Adkins) offer him redemption.

Most scenes are fearlessly funny slaps at leftwing and jihadist lunacy, but they are cringe-free laughs because providence protects the open-souled. Still, two of Sokoloff’s favorite parts are seriously personal.

In the movie, Malone sees his nephew depart for combat. Sokoloff wrote that scene to honor all American military families. The day after Zucker cut the scene, he told Sokoloff that it choked him up because the character Josh represents everything good about America. I never expected to fight tears during a Zucker comedy, but Sokoloff got me too.

There is also the matter (or should I say immaterial?) of faith in An American Carol. Sokoloff earned her degree in religion and philosophy at Boston University. “And,” she said, “I also have a master’s degree in Jewish education from Hebrew Union College’s Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. So there’s a whole other part of me that you didn’t know about.”

Thus, another one of her favorite scenes is Michael Malone’s encounter with George Washington, who tells him, “When you meet the Almighty, only truth will do.”

“We always had the whole scene in there,” said Sokoloff. “It’s a serious scene, there’s no way around it and David always had a problem with having this serious scene in a comedy. So we agonized over how to make it work. Actually, Jon Voight loved the scene and he added his own lines–the ones about freedom of speech and religion. When Washington takes Malone to St. Paul’s Chapel, it sets up Malone for the fact that he will face his own death… And unless you believe in your own death, you have no chance of redeeming yourself.”

I have a few reservations about An American Carol, most importantly the point where the ghost of Patton tells Malone that we have to give up some freedom for safety. I discussed this with Sokoloff, explaining that various acts of Congress and executive orders unconstitutionally license the U.S. government to invade our privacy, and arrest and prosecute individuals without cause. Related creepy developments include widespread video cameras and airport photo scanners that penetrate travelers’ clothing.

Sokoloff replied, “It is a concern, but in this time when things are dangerous–during the times when we were at war, under Lincoln, under Roosevelt, rights were curtailed for the safety of everyone–and I don’t mind being searched if it’s going to catch somebody with a bomb who would get on a plane with me and 300 other people.”

All things considered, An American Carol is thoroughly entertaining, just when we need some good laughs–and reason for hope.

Published by The American Spectator. Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved by author and publisher.

*After publication of this article, Sokoloff explained that Friedman joined the screenwriting team shortly before the movie was filmed.