Reel Critics:

s (improvised explosive devices) and defusing them — more than 800 to date. But the dangers don’t stop there. Snipers, insurgents and bystanders also pose a threat.

These unimaginable conditions affect the men in different ways as we are taken through the last 38 days of their rotation.

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal have created an almost unbearable, squirm-inducing tension. “Locker” doesn’t use explosions merely for effect but for the real horrors they represent.

What might pass for heroics in another film could be seen as foolhardy and selfish in this one.

The film’s opening and closing message that “war is a drug” has never been more clearly illustrated.

Don’t say you weren’t warned

If there were an Oscar category for the most offensive comedy with the most outrageous bad taste, “Brüno” would win, hands down. Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest film is a full-frontal assault on every normal human sensibility. As he did in “Borat,” Cohen walks up to the cutting edge of absurd humor and pole vaults naked into unknown territory. Be warned that shots of flagrant male nudity are part of this scandalous show.

Bruno is a flamboyantly gay fashion hound who hungers for celebrity.

His search for fame defiles every concept of common decency. But on his journey to stardom he uncovers the dark side of others hoping to get their own shot at the spotlight. The real situations presented are startling for their humiliating revelations and obvious satire.

Innocent third parties are targeted for cheap laughs. All social, ethnic and religious groups are skewered without mercy in the rapid-fire plot that runs for only 82 minutes. It’s way out of the box for mainstream viewers. But the packed audience at my screening howled with laughter at all the politically incorrect jokes that pepper the screenplay. This is a disturbing comedy that will appeal to some and horrify others.

JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.