Riveting

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2013)

Whatever the controversies it is riveting and well made cinematic version of the most significant man hunt in history the search for and killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Because this movie is a sort of historical testament, if there never was any torture in the search, it shouldn't have been included. But as far as movie making is concerned the torture scenes keep one engrossed during the early part of the movie. It would have been hard to keep the tension up during the first third with the slow search for the contact that took years. The screenplay is quite adept at minimising confusion in a long story.
The raid on the Bin Laden compound is scary and well filmed. Even in the darkness and green lights it still is quite clear what happened.
Katherine Bigelow's direction is generally very good showing the viewer what they want to see. Some of the camera angles were a bit close and jerky at first but that soon stopped. Production is good with an on location feel.
Jessica Chastain does a convincing determined and balanced performance that doesn't resort to painful jerky overacting like Clare Danes in Homeland.
It is a scary and fascinating movie and well worth watching.