A counter-terrorism thriller that falls flat

Rating: 6/10 (2 February 2017)

I've generally liked Kathryn Bigelow's movies. 'Point Break' was exhilarating, 'Near Dark' refreshing in its edginess and originality, and 'The Hurt Locker' grippingly tense. I heard good things about 'Zero Dark Thirty' and was disappointed. The movie felt like a tired retread of Ridley Scott's 'Body of Lies'. Both are political thrillers that examine America's War on Terror and how the politicians, soldiers and special agents go too far, or have their hands tied when they should go farther. But whereas 'Body of Lies' was thrilling and had great characters, 'Zero Dark Thirty' was meandering and had weak characterization.
I have to say that I'm no expert on the subject of counter-terrorism and at points I had trouble following the plot, namely what was up with Kyle Chandler's character.
The best part of the movie was probably the intense operation at bin Laden's house at night, but the sequence felt very disjointed from the rest of the movie.
By the end I was left wondering what the movie was trying to say - what was the point. Was Jessica Chastain's character relieved that it was over? Was she happy with herself? It seems that the movie might have benefited from waiting a couple years before making it, letting the subject matter cool down a bit so that the film-makers could've examined it with more freedom of expression.