Homeland meets Call of Duty

Rating: 5/10 (14 January 2013)

I like watching a good video game being played at times. The graphics, camera angles and action are quite riveting even when you're not actually playing.
The plot -- not so much.
I like Homeland too. The frantic, more than slightly over-the-top Carrie and here Yoda like mentor are very appealing, as is the ever-mysterious ex-marine/terrorist.
The plot -- not so much.
Zero Dark Thirty is a mixture of both of these fantasy universes. It's good at what it does with the over-precision and false but gripping tension in the video game sequences. The highly improbable and emotional CIA scenes are good melodrama. Chastain is not nearly as good as Danes in the crazy obsessed character but she's fun to watch as are the other character types. This is honestly very enjoyable guilty pleasure pulp- fiction soap-opera stuff.
The plot -- not so much.
We know what happens in the end and we know it didn't happen like that, though to be fair, it probably didn't happen as in official accounts either. However, this is the weakness in the film - it tries to pretend to be real and, I feel, cheapens the contributions made by the actual participants.
This is not great cinema. It is not Gone with the Wind and does not bring "closure" for 9-11. But it is enjoyable if you pretend it is a Homeland episode and that you are watching a good Call of Duty black-ops game (good - not great - perfect score would have been not to shoot the two wives...) - and bring lots of popcorn...