An important, gripping and technically competent historical drama

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2013)

This is an important movie. It is a technically superb docudrama that walks the movie goer through the arduous and controversial process that resulted in the killing of OBL.
Every movie needs a hero, and in this movie the role is played by Maya (Jessica Chastain), a tenacious CIA employee who is portrayed as instrumental in finding OBL. The movie is more or less told from her perspective.
The involvement of a strong woman represents the clash of values underlying it all. The presence of a dynamic, intelligent, career-oriented woman during the interrogation scenes and at the identification of OBL's body is hugely symbolic. This is why.
It's astonishing how Bigelow was able to recreate everything so realistically (although I'm sure there are some aspects that are not realistic). She shows us several aspects of the hunt in much depth: the intelligence gathering, the CIA politics involved, the cultural clashes, the military operation, and so on. The movie has the feel of an interesting documentary or news story. The movie is long, but it doesn't feel long, which is quite remarkable when you think that this is a movie with a plot known to the viewer beforehand.
I felt the movie was rather dispassionate. The climax was understated and lacking in triumphalism (apart from a bit of excitement from the soldiers involved). I certainly did not rejoice at the end. Why did the climax unexpectedly move me the second time I saw this movie? I suppose it's because I had a better feeling of the justice of it all.
The one thing about this movie that really surprised me is the fact that most of it was set in Pakistan. Pakistan has a lot to answer for, it seems. Is Pakistan aiding or fighting terrorism? It seems unclear to me now.
I didn't find the "enhanced interrogation" scenes too difficult to watch. This movie doesn't condone it or condemn it: it simply shows it. The same treatment is given to the killings at the OBL compound. No punches are pulled. We are shown what happened. In this movie Bigelow portrays the stark reality, including the moral ambiguity of the process. The tone is one of fallible human endeavour, grim necessity, determined competence.