Incredibly UNgripping

Rating: 5/10 (17 January 2013)

Maybe it's because I'm not American, but I found this film to be quite ungripping. In style it's very like The Hurt Locker; hand-held, unproduced look etc. The cinematography is okay, the acting a bit flat, some unrealistic scenes, and an oddly empty journey.
I found the beginning of the film to be a bit confusing with regards to the leads that the CIA were trying to follow, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. The torture scenes appeared to be quite realistic (to someone who has never tortured anyone).
It's a very pared down narrative. The story follows a single lead (with very little backstory), and doesn't give much info outside that. This isn't a bad way to tell the story, but it does present some limitations.
In terms of telling a story, there's really only about 10 minutes worth (film time) in terms of useful information gathered on the part of the CIA. They're looking for a guy, can't find him, luck turns up an old report, they track a possible suspect, find he goes to a house, they suspect Bin Laden is there, storm the house and kill Bin Laden.
This leave long stretches where nothing really happens, and there's nothing to fill in the time.
The film really never gets out of a well-recreated narrative documentary feel. The reason why I think this causes an issue is that because there is zero character development, all you have is the threadbare story to follow. Character development doesn't mean building a fictional character with a journey arch; it means providing depth and insight into why a person does what they do. If you knew nothing about Osama Bin Laden, you'd spend most of the film wondering what was going on. Because the narrative is so sparse, all we have is the lead character, but there's nothing to connect with. Who is the Maya? Why is she so dedicated? Why wasn't she a crying wreck after getting shot at by gunmen outside her home? What drives her and why is it so important to her? Scenes are just sort of dumped on screen with minimal segues. The film skips years with no bother to tell what happened in the intervening time. The lead, Jessica Chastain, then appears as if no time had passed at all. It gives it a very clinical, hollow feel and reeks of a lack of substance on the part of the filmmakers. Terrorist attacks occur randomly with no relevance to the plot except perhaps to inform the viewer that the CIA work is worthwhile because the terrorist threat is still present.
So, the film appears to just provide the facts that led to the raid. That immediately makes it a dry, drawn-out affair that lacks tension and heart. The film doesn't address the issues of the morality of torture, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Viewers can make their own minds up on that. I was at least pleased that it didn't descend into cheesy flag-waving Americanisms at the end.
It didn't need to be an over-produced Hollywood flick, but there's also nothing to engage with. In terms of story-telling, it has largely failed. The end result is a "based on real events" recreation documentary without any of the detail of a documentary. It's not a bad angle to take, but doesn't deliver the emotion that a film (and not a documentary) about the hunt for the 9/11 mastermind deserves.