Morally ambivalent product from a lazy director

Rating: 6/10 (15 February 2013)

Kathryn Bigelow who made history by becoming the first woman director to win an Oscar ("The Hurt Locker") continues her tryst with 9/11 and its aftermath with her latest creation - Zero Dark Thirty.
ZDT like its predecessor, "The Hurt Locker", chronicles the polarization of the world from an American standpoint. To the credit of the director, she manages to build in a fair amount of suspense and edge of the seat thrills as the hunt for Osama Bin Laden reaches its crescendo, despite the end result being known to the viewer.
The other high light of the movie is the portrayal of Maya, the lead CIA operative by upcoming actress Jessica Chastain. Its rare to see a mainstream Hollywood movie where the lead female actor is shown as cold, bull headed, steely, self centered and socially inept. Chastain pulls it off remarkably well. What a transformation it has been for the classically beautiful actress from playing vulnerable, quiet, mother of two in "The Tree of Life" or from playing the air headed, rich, bored housewife who wants to desperately hire a house maid and impress her husband in "The Help". Slowly but surely, Chastain is building up a formidable oeuvre of work. No wonder she is bookies favorite to pick up the Best Actress Oscar this year.
On the acting front, an honorable mention must be made of James Gandolfini's robust, business like and heavy duty cameo of CIA Chief, Leon Panetta.
Beyond these odd exceptions, the cupboard of ZDT is starkly bare. Is this movie pro/anti war? Is the movie pro/anti Jihad? Is this movie pro/anti prison torture? No one can tell. Director Bigelow takes a convenient and morally ambivalent stand on all these issues. Why is Maya so single-mindedly obsessed about hunting down OBL? What drives her to shun friends, social life and risk her own life and limbs to be devoted to the cause? Once again no one can tell. Bigelow does a shoddy job of fleshing out Maya and other characters. Also for Bigelow, the age old American policy of fostering trouble in Middle East and the resultant rise of militancy in those regions is not something to be bothered with in the narrative. Even a TV series like "Homeland" is more comprehensive in its reach and coverage there.
In summary, "Zero Dark Thirty" is a movie bogged down by a weak script, stuffed with process and operational details and helmed by a lazy director, ultimately winding up in the graveyard of many forgettable films on the topic of Islamic terrorism.
I am going with 2.5 stars on 5.