Cohesive narrative with terrific acting a bit long and episodic but mostly worth it

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2013)

Jessica Chastain gives a magnificent and unforgettable performance as the obsessed CIA Agent Maya. As a rule, I do not care for long movies and I found Bigelow's Hurt Locker slow and unsatisfying even though much shorter than ZDT. However, even though this is more character study than action, I only looked at my watch once, The tale is told in rather episodic fashion but the episodes are gripping - especially the two surrounding Jenifer Ehle who was terrific. The length of the film seems paced to make us feel the frustration and endless desperation ans single-mindedness experienced by Maya. Kyle Chandler is well cast as her bureaucratic boss who is done in by her over-zealous maneuvers. The movie depicts Maya as a flawed heroine. It also shows the rather brutal assault on the Bin Laden house where the wives are fair game to be shot at blindly - the end of getting Bin Laden justifying the means.
An aside, I was as against the wars then as I am now and my feelings about the techniques used NOT being justified by 9/11 are the polar opposite of Maya's. But in telling her story, I don't believe this movie chronicling her exhausting and obsessive pursuit of Bin Laden glorifies the American war efforts. I think it tells the story objectively showing why the Americans were so unpopular and accurately depicting the intelligence-in-the field process. In now way do I see this as the propaganda movie others here reported - not at all. I just experienced a well-told and well-acted series of failed operations ultimately resulting in the successful killing of Bin Laden but at considerable costs of lives, money, and international goodwill. The mix of emotions depicted at the end underscores the ambiguity.