One of the Best Movie in the Recent Memory

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2013)

There has been so much controversy surrounding this film and the fact that it was only released in a few theaters up to now made it frustrating to just listen to debates and have no input. Well, I finally got to see it and here is my two cents on it.
First off, I would recommend seeing this movie with other people. I left the movie a bit dazed and it was a big relief to talk to the people I went with about what had transpired on the screen. But anyway, onto the movie.
The fabled torture scenes at the beginning of the movie are indeed every bit as horrible as people have said they are. I'm not particularly squeamish (I've seen Saw and Hostel) but there was something deeply unsettling watching the scenes. I couldn't quite put my finger on it; maybe it was just the fact that in other movies that try to deal with this subject (such as in the horrible Samuel L. Jackson movie "Unthinkable") everything seems to go too smoothly, practical matters are just completely ignored. But this movie does address the little things. For example, in the first water boarding scene the interrogator, Dan, holds the detainee down but forgets to bring the water jug with him and realizing his mistake he shouts to the new agent Maya (our main character), to bring the jug over. There isn't any complex system or advanced machinery, there is just Dan, Maya, and a few ski masked, covered men. It may not seem like much, but to me these little annoyances and details seemed to add authenticity and made it all the more unnerving.
It could be that I missed something (this is one of those movies it would be good to see twice) but it seemed to me that the information obtained from the detainee that had been tortured was also obtained from numerous other detainees that were not being tortured. I certainly did not come away with the impression that torture was indispensable to finding Osama Bin Laden. I actually can't really see how anyone could construe this movie as pro torture, but I suppose everyone will have their own opinions on that point.
The intelligence gathering aspect of the movie (most of the middle section) is portrayed as hugely pain staking and almost single handedly run by the determined (borderline crazed) Maya (excellently acted by Jessica Chastain). I won't say anything more on this part because it is very complicated and I wouldn't like to ruin anything if you haven't seen it, but suffice it to say that it is every bit as gripping as the rest of the movie.
Which bring us to the raid of UBL's compound. I think that this half and hour sequence will go down as one of the best "action" sequences in movie history (I say action, but really it is slow and methodical). It is different than similar sequences in other movies because no one is portrayed as heroes. There is no epic music playing in the background. The SEALS aren't super humans (like in Act of Valor), just very competent operators who approach the mission methodically and efficiently. They are brutal in their approach, killing everything that they perceive as a threat and riddling the corpses that they shoot with even more bullets when they are down (understandably wanting to protect themselves). Finally, when UBL is killed, there is no dramatic scene. In fact, we are not even aware that he was killed until a minute or two later. Everyone in the whole theatre was leaning forward throughout this sequence. It was truly a remarkable sequence that will go down in movie history.
There are so many aspects of this movie to talk about that it is simply impossible to capture all of them. Above all the movie makes you think. It is not just pro American propaganda (quite the opposite in fact). I walked out with more questions than when I walked in. I think that's good thing.