Do Not Be Swayed By the Political Fallout...just go see it.

Rating: 7/10 (11 January 2013)

Perhaps this film came out too soon. With the issues of torture and the lingering questions our country is debating on the "war on terror", this film was bound to provide a soapbox for both the left and right side of the debate. I would advise you not to worry too much about what this movie says or doesn't say about torture, and just go see if for yourself.
Why? Because the film provides an engaging, well scripted depiction of the uninteresting, boring, tedious and often unproductive nature of the CIA's tracking down of OBL. I thought this film was going to be like Black Hawk Down in terms of the time line it would follow. I was wrong. The story arc begins with 9/11 and is largely set in Pakistan where you watch a young CIA analyst (Jessica Chastain) slowly obsess over and piece together the leads that get her to OBL.
There are weaknesses in the writing and some poorly developed characters. Yet, over all I preferred the plot which stuck completely to the CIA's base in Pakistan rather than mix and match the DC politics with the ground game analysis. Of course the DC bureaucrats need their say, and the film gets you to DC during the final stages before the strike. In total, this is not a "24" type of film. Its not about the ticking bomb and torturing someone to get them to talk. Its a thoughtful depiction of a very difficult intelligence mission that does not make the mistake of intentionally trumping up any political ideologies nor does it advocate torture. It just gives an admittedly dumbed down view into the post-9/11 intelligence issues this country faced, which include as you will see some pretty brutal methods of culling information from sources.