If you're looking for action this isn't the movie for you but 'ZERO DARK THIRTY' is an effective and informative historical thriller.

Rating: 9/10 (14 January 2013)

'ZERO DARK THIRTY': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Director Kathryn Bigelow's much anticipated and highly controversial cinematic recreation of the events that lead to the killing of al-Quaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. It turns out that most of the political criticisms of the film are untrue and one could say that the movie plays out more like a Bush/Cheyney apologist film than the pro Obama movie that conservatives feared it would be. President Obama is never seen in the film and barely mentioned and the story seems to imply that he had very little to do with the killing of bin Laden. Ridiculous accusations that the Obama administration leaked classified information to the filmmakers have been proved false and now the movie has come under attack by liberals for what they say is glorifying torture and implying that it lead to the CIA finding bin Laden. Having seen the film I don't think it implies that at all. The film does depict some gruesome and disturbing torture scenes but it definitely doesn't glorify the method and it does show the detainee who was tortured finally giving his torturers information (after being tricked by them) but that's what happened (there's no distortion of facts). It's up to interpretation whether the torture lead to finding bin Laden in the film just as it is in life. I don't think the film has a political agenda of any kind (liberal or conservative) it's just a historical thriller that gives the viewers a lot of information about the ten year manhunt of Osama bin Laden. Maybe too much information (not because it's information that shouldn't be exposed) but because the movie is perhaps too long and very slow paced at times. Technically it's a masterpiece though and a great examination of the hunt for one of the world's most notorious terrorists.
The film focuses on a CIA agent named Maya (Jessica Chastain) and begins in the year 2003. As the movie opens she's assigned to work with another agent named Dan (Jason Clarke) at the U.S. embassy in Pakistan. Her first job is in aiding him in the interrogation of a detainee named Ammar (Reda Kateb). After torturing him multiple times (and tricking him) Ammar gives them information that eventually leads them to a personal courier for Osama bin Laden named Abu Ahmed (Tushaar Mehra). Maya pursues the lead for several years (at one point being mislead into believing the man is dead) as Dan grows tired of his gruesome job and asks to be reassigned. As he leaves he asks Maya to go with him and warns her that politics are changing (under the upcoming new presidential administration) and she needs to be careful when it comes to using torture. There's also a video clip of President Obama saying torture would not be tolerated but Maya remains undeterred and continues on her obsessive hunt while surviving multiple attacks and attempts on her life. The movie builds to the infamous raid that is depicted in a surprisingly uncinematic way and actually does seem like you're watching live footage of the actual event.
At first I was a little disappointed in 'ZERO DARK THIRTY'. I think I was in the wrong mood for it at the time I saw it and had a hard a time getting in to it but it's definitely a different movie than I expected. I knew it wouldn't be action packed but I did expect it to be more suspenseful and emotionally involving. The only character fully developed in the film is Maya and Jessica Chastain does a great job bringing her to life but she's kind of a cold and obsessive character and we know nothing about her other than the job at hand. So the one character we have to relate to is mostly unrelatable. Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Kyle Chandler and Mark Strong all do a good job of bringing a little more humanity to the film in supporting roles but their characters aren't fully explored. There's also nice cameos from James Gandolfini, Edgar Ramirez, Harold Perrineau, Frank Grillo, Mark Duplass and Scott Adkins (of all people). The movie isn't about characters though (unlike Bigelow's superior film 'THE HURT LOCKER'). It is a great in-depth and detailed look at one of the most extensive and hard fought manhunts in U.S. history though. It's long and very slow paced but it does serve it's purpose well. It doesn't use a lot of music or other traditional cinematic tools and it does have a strong documentary type feel to it. If you're looking for action this isn't the movie for you but 'ZERO DARK THIRTY' is an effective and informative historical thriller.
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