Darkly Compelling

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2013)

Zero Dark Thirty opens with a black screen. We hear the distressed voices of Americans immediately after the 9/11 attacks, including many who are still inside the towers. This simple but effective scene draws us completely into the world of Maya, a young woman completely obsessed with finding and killing UBL. The rest of the film details the search for Bin-Laden, a journey filled with innumerable dead-ends.
One would think that the search for the world's most wanted man would be a fascinating story, but unfortunately this film doesn't really portray it that way. What we do see are several dialogue scenes filled with incomprehensible jargon, which really prevents the viewer from understanding much. The basic plot points are easy enough to get, but the film is filled with so many details that it sometimes clouds the overall picture. I was hoping this film would completely lift the veil, and shed some light on the search for UBL, but by the end of the movie, I really didn't know much more than when I walked in.
As far as acting is concerned, Jessica Chastain is perfect for the lead role. Her character is basically a representation of post-9/11 America; she is determined to find and kill Bin-Laden and isn't willing to make many concessions to get there. I thoroughly enjoyed many of the other actors as well, particularly Jason Clarke, who plays Dan, the only person we see torturing detainees on screen. What's most impressive about both Clarke and Chastain is that they play characters who are almost completely emotionless, yet they still manage to subtly show these character's underlying humanity. Considering that neither of the characters are given any back-story to work with, I'd say that's pretty incredible.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this film is its complete lack of a political bias. Every scene is completely objective, which I found remarkably refreshing.
A final thing worth mentioning concerns the final hour or so of the film, which depicts American soldiers storming the compound and killing Bin-Laden. This is one of the most exciting, realistic, and enthralling scenes I have ever had the enjoyment of watching; I have never heard a movie-theatre be as quiet as it was during this sequence.
To summarize, Zero Dark Thirty is a good film. The first hour can be difficult to watch, as it is basically a combination of torture scenes and hard-to-follow dialogue, but the second half of the film is incredible, and the acting throughout the film makes up for many of the shortcomings in the storytelling. Go see it.
RATING: 8/10