Engaging with an even-handed approach but it is a bit dry and not all the hype suggests

Rating: Null/10 (2 February 2013)

This film arrived in the UK with the critical praise and Oscar nominations all very fresh and mostly untouched by negative opinion. The story is one all viewers will know going in – or at least the ending is. It is a story that has such a potential for emotion, whether it is in the terrorist attacks played out on screen or the final raid of the film and this potential had me worried that it would be overdone. Indeed since the events happened there was always going to be a film made of it, the question was whether or not it would be a gloating, excessively patriotic affair made to make 'Murica feel good about the revenge aspect of Bin Laden's death. Happily this is not really the case here (although it is hard not to feel some satisfaction) because director Bigelow and writer Boal have delivered a very patient film that condenses a decade-long manhunt down into a few hours and done so without overly pushing any agenda so much as trying to remain distant and just play it out.
On one hand this makes for a very engaging film. Using Maya as our central character, we follow the story through torture, setbacks, small leads and ultimately into the risky raid. It is unfolded in a patient way which summarizes without making it a total simplification and, while it moves slowly, it does still hold the attention because the path is interesting and the destination important. The manner of the telling is important because it could easily have overdone the torture to condemn it, or alternatively overdo its use to justify it, but it really manages to do both and neither at the same time which is another reason it engages the viewer. It takes the same approach with the raid; those of us with Call of Duty style images in our head of what happened will be disappointed but it is actually more effective and tense for just how simply it is allowed to go – there are no excessive action move clichés and it is better for it.
That said, I don't totally see the film that the critics are gushing over because the downside of how methodical and even-handedly it approaches the story is that it does lack the emotional highs that a more manipulative approach would have brought and it is telling how often we get these in other films since their absence is something you'll feel even if you know you don't actually miss them. The character of Maya is one example; Chastain has been roundly praised for her performance but actually I found her quite blank – which fits the approach but does mean she is not a strong character at the core of the film. Likewise the matter-of-fact move through the story does occasionally drag – not in so much of a way that it lost me, but just in a way that at times it felt quite dry to watch. The performances throughout fit this mould although again it is a necessary evil to keep it balanced and not allow big colorful characters or set-pieces to overtake reality.
Zero Dark Thirty is a really interesting and engaging film that benefits and loses from the even-handed approach that it takes. It is a good story and I appreciated that I was allowed to bring my own politics to the film, not have others heavily thrust onto me. This does mean that at times it can be a little dry and slow in the telling and this does hurt the film, but to me the benefit outweighs the loss. Not everything the hype would suggest but certainly a very well told story.