In the last year or so, a rash of Iraq and Afghanistan dramas have gone into production in Hollywood, as the war rolls on with no end in sight. While those that have been released so far haven't exactly set the world alight (Home of the Brave, for example, disappeared without trace in the US before Christmas) that hasn't stopped production gearing up on The Hurt Locker, for which director Kathryn Bigelow has just landed an all-star cast.
Colin Farrell, Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes and Willem Dafoe will play members of an elite bomb disposal unit who are "forced to play a dangerous game of cat and mouse in the chaos of war", overcoming personal differences to work together in a city where "everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb". Hmm, sounds like a measured and mature take on the conflict. Let's hope there's more to it than the synopsis.
The script's by Mark Boal, who co-wrote In The Valley Of Elah recently with Paul Haggis, another Iraq drama. And the film marks a a couple of reunions of sorts - Elah also stars Theron, while Farrell and Fiennes are currently filming In Bruges together which is filming, obviously enough, in Belgium at the moment.
But, sensationalist synopsis or not, this is one to watch out for. It will be Bigelow's first film since K-19: The Widowmaker in 2002, so let's hope she's on Point Break form after her sabbatical.