With Oscar night only a few days away, best-picture frontrunner The Hurt Locker has had a rough week, with veterans’ sounding off on its inaccuracies, its producer’s being barred from the ceremony, and a man’s claiming the movie’s main character (played by Jeremy Renner) is based off him and filing a lawsuit. So we asked Marcus Johnson, a veteran of the Iraq war, to tell us how close to real life The Hurt Locker is.
Last week, Paul Rieckhoff, director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, wrote on Newsweek.com that inaccuracies in The Hurt Locker reveal “not only a lack of research, but ultimately [a lack of] respect for the American military.” Rieckhoff echoes the sentiment of many veterans who have expressed everything from disinterest in the film to blatant outrage at its distorted portrayal of combat life in Iraq.
Full story: An Iraq Veteran who Didn’t Hate The Hurt Locker—And Isn’t Suing it Either! | Little Gold Men – Vanity Fair