Boal and Bigelow's Best Yet

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2013)

Before watching this, I almost made up my mind that I wasn't going to like it. The trailer looked a total departure from the Boal-Bigelow team-up that I know. But at the same time, I have high expectations after reading so much fantastic reviews about it.
Lo and behold! This movie even topped The Hurt Locker which I thought was a landmark achievement in this particular genre! The masterful, intelligent, snappy and ultra gritty writing of Boal was translated by Bigelow into the silverscreen with gripping intensity with a very thoughtful approach. The material itself could have gone in so many direction depending on the treatment: a boring indie docudrama or a highly cliché action movie or an over the top political drama. But Bigelow and Boal has effectively steered this movie across genres. It almost felt I watched three movies!
And the movie is already sparking a worldwide debate! 1- Some are saying that the movie glorifies torture. I totally don't see this. If anything the movie went as far as stating that the interrogation methods mainly depends on the policy that the government made. All the torture in detention cells that happened in the beginning of the movie all stopped after Obama was elected. Dan was also quick to warn Maya about being caught as the last "man" holding the dog collar.
2- Some are saying that the movie is wildly inaccurate. Hmmm, but then again, how do we know if it's accurate when we really don't know what really happened. All the CIA files and documents are highly confidential and I suppose heavily redacted already by now. No civilian would really know the entire story. This is where the imagination of the writer comes in.
3- The movie will leave a lasting imprint on how torture is conducted. A lot of CIA agents (?)/military men are commenting that the movie over dramatized the torture scenes. They're claiming that in real life, these interrogation tactics are conducted under the supervision of a medical specialist and there are rules and standards. I find this hard to believe after pictures of Abu Ghraib came out. What's even more outrageous is that they're pointing to movies having an influence on how military interrogators do torture. I highly doubt it. What I saw in the Abu Ghraib pictures are so disturbing and I've never seen anything like that in the movies.
In terms of performances, Jessica Chastain is just pure perfection. I'm officially convinced she's able and capable of taking over Meryl Streep. She's just like a chameleon. Though her character was given so little to work with, she just magically presents us with what can be considered as one of the most memorable characters in cinema. And I'm not exaggerating. In the first 15 minutes of the movie,it was uncomfortable to watch her. She was even annoying, at times. She came across like an wannabe agent. She was acting tough as to opposed being real tough. But in one of the highlights of the movie which was a pivotal point for her character, there was a complete shift in how she handled herself. It's like the little warmth that she had in her and all her personality just totally disappeared. And then she transformed into this irreverent, impatient, ballsy and icy agent who just means business. She was the portrait of a woman driven mad by one goal. That's when I realized that it was part of her character build-up. A lot of posts from the message boards are "crucifying" Bigelow for putting feminist undertones in the movie. That's totally stupid. Maya could have been a guy it wouldn't make a difference. I've certainly didn't see any of Maya's co-worker treat her differently because she was a woman. If her superiors see her differently, it's because she was irreverent and marvelous at the same time. Chastain deserves to win the Oscars for her work in this movie. I think she will. I read a review that the movie could have used more time in building the back story for the character, I say he watch the movie again and watch Chastain closely.
Another standout for me is Jason Clarke who also deserves to get noticed for his role as a brutal and cold agent who just wants to be a regular guy.
I can't praise this movie enough and I hope more people can appreciate the movies of Boal and Bigelow. But sadly, the movies they make doesn't have that mass appeal. I'm just going to keep on that one of these two things happening: (1) they make something more commercial soon or (2) there will be more audiences who can appreciate movies that break the formula.