Zero plot 30

Rating: Null/10 (15 March 2013)

I was speaking to an old friend the other day and the conversation meandered into the latest movies, she began to talk about Zero Dark Thirty and i knew i would have to tell her that i thought it was a complete waste of time eventually. This idea didn't excite me as it usually does when I'm given an opportunity to argue with someone about the merits of a film. I asked myself 'why?' and immediately realized why when she began to talk about it. "I didn't know that a women played such a major role in the whole thing.." she said. "Its interesting that someone like her was behind the whole thing pretty much...".
I was about to begin to explain to her why the presence of a woman in that role was not meant to be taken literally, or perhaps it was, but thats not the point.
This movie is different for Bigelow in that it doesn't appear to have a clear message, to me at least. Her other films always portray the subject in such a near-perfect light. Strange days, The hurt locker, Point break, and K-19 all seem to give a fair presentation to both sides while staying decidedly in the realm of opposition to the main ideals and themes depicted. This "opposition" is exactly what draws a person like me to a Bigelow film. I could not find her stamp on the movie until the end. Thats the other thing, did i really spend that much time watching a buildup to an event so highly spoken of in our time? (in north America at least). I was awestruck by the amount of desperate justification of the US' methods of war, interrogation, and the like. Its almost as if she believed that this truly was a means to an end, that showing this would do anything but convince people that harsh interrogation works and that if you make the US mad, seal teams will come to your home and efficiently deal with you. Then i remember what my friend said, and i realize that most people will take every scene as truth, every action as an insight into the workings of the situation. Its our point of view and interpretation that points us on the path of understanding.
That being said, don't waste your time on this two hour bore-fest, this pro-American barfy justification of perseverance and 'righteousness'. the first truly poor film on Bigelows list without a doubt.