Great military/intelligence thriller. Could've been greater if given more political context

Rating: 8/10 (1 November 2017)

Very well made. There's very little real military action, most of the story is tedious intelligence work. It's essentially a decade long search for Osama bin Laden's hiding location. Nonetheless, it's filled with tension and a few surprising turns of events. The CIA's portrayal is balanced I guess? The film doesn't shy away from "rendition" and the invasion of Afghanistan or the WMD in Iraq fiasco. The MC is a great operative, great intuitions and very persistent, but she's also quite cruel. She said she'd rather drop a bomb on the compound than using the special forces. There're kids in the compound, I'm glad they sent in the canaries instead. I wish they'd included more of Obama's input. Originally the CIA didn't have a exist plan, they assumed the diplomats would sort it out with the Pakistani government even if the canaries were captured, Obama insisted they made an exist plan. These little things show how politicians and CIA think differently.