The story of the hunt for the most wanted man in the world

Rating: 7/10 (14 April 2013)

The film is chronicle of the decade long hunt for Al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in the eyes of young, intellectual, brazen CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) In the book, 'No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden' written by the account of the Seal Operator and his book is based on the perspective of the female CIA Operator. She is referred to as "Jen", but her name matters not. What's important is her tough-minded, monomaniacal focus for almost 10 years, despite the numerous attempts by her superiors to ignore her theories. The movie would love to make it seems like she did all the work, but in my opinion, I think 'Jen' reference to a number of working agents. Maya is a pretty bland character as she sacrificed years of her life to the hunt for Osama bin Laden losing more and more of herself like Ahab searching for the White Whale. Having no life and being passive-aggressive does not make for an interesting character. She isn't so much robotic as inert. We know nothing about her, except that she was recruited to the CIA while in high school. We're never told what would draw the CIA to a high school student. Rather than reality, we are presented with a view of the world through the eyes of an angry childlike being. The film directed by Katherine Bigelow was at first was going to portray the long and unsuccessful hunt for bin Laden. Katherine was about to begin filming when news broke that bin Laden had been killed and the story clearly had to rewritten. The movie opens up with emotional black screen that had 9/11 dialogue. It was very respectable to not to show those events in a Hollywood movie deem as entertainment. Still, hearing those real voices of the victims are chilling. We are follow with a scene of torture to terrorists in George W. Bush's America. Some people were mortified by the torture scenes but I'm sure the reality is much worse. I was very confused by what was the point of the movie's portrayal of torture. It was torture to see in the film, seeing people sitting around complaining that they have no intelligence because can't torture anyone once the Obama administration comes to power. The fact is that torture did not play any role in bringing Bin Laden to justice. It was very clear that torture is counterproductive and was a hindrance to our attempts to find Bin Laden. So why was the movie always showing torture help find him. Then there is the raid. The scene was so dark you could hardly see what anyone was doing. When the Seal Teams enter the compound of UBL it is very accurate according to the book; down to the 4 scope night inferred vision the operators where wearing. I believe the capturing of Bin Laden in the movie at the compound is based solely on Mr. Owens account. As far as the various forms of sleuthing the CIA used to find UBL can be debated, as in the book, the female CIA Operator does play an important role, she is the only operator that stayed on the UBL whereabouts as others were transferred in and out. I can't even fathom how the SEAL or the Agent felt during the mission. I do hope that the actual shooter wasn't one of the SEALs from the raid that were killed a few months later on that CH-47 that crashed. Loved the Weinstein Company Seal Team Six film for National Geographic Channel about the taking of Osama bin Laden. Now after watching Zero Dark Thirty, I have to say this is better. I love the fact that women are given prominent roles in the movie. It's rare to see women in government type roles. The supporting acting was great. I like James Gandolfini does such a great job of portraying the CIA direct, I almost thought he was Leon Panneta. Still there are some faults. Kathryn Bigelow's film is driven more by plot than by characters but it's a strong plot, clearly well-researched and told realistically while shrugging off any glamorizing or hero-making ambitions. None of the main characters are that likable, as they call portray using torture to gain information. Scenes also changed too many times so I couldn't figure out if the scene was in CIA headquarters in Virginia or in another country. Later in the movie after the bombing at the Marriott, Maya is invited out to eat and says "I don't eat out, too dangerous." Later, she is seen half intoxicated at a bar when a colleague delivers a rather important piece of intelligence equipment to her. Some people will think, the movie has this American propaganda and jingoism to it. I can see it, a bit. Plus, certain people will have their opinion on how the movie might be a bit partisanship due to the release. Some people will think makes Obama look good. It's greatest conspiracy ever, they might say. It didn't help that throwing Osama in the ocean was pretty stupid considering the conspiracy theories it has created. This movie needs closed captions as there is a lot of lingo talking and it is hard to understand what the actors talk because of the background noise. I kinda wish they research that Pakistan speaks Urdu, not Arabic. Bigelow and her writer Mark Boal went even deeper into research mode and now the film has instigated Congressional hearings in regards to some of the scenes due to allegations improper access to classified information. No matter what's happens. Zero Dark Thirty as Bigelow explained it, "is a military term for 30 minutes after midnight, and it refers also to the darkness and secrecy that cloaked the entire decade-long mission." In the end, this movie brings light to that.