Zero Dark Thirty

[AndrewH]

As a movie, I thought Zero Dark Thirty was quite good. It's written by Mark Boal and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the same duo that brought us The Hurt Locker in 2008. I think the mark of a quality film is its ability to be entertaining while at the same time moving to the audience in some way, and this film certainly does this thanks to a very good cast. Jessica Chastain is excellent as Maya, the CIA operative who dedicated her life to finding Osama bin Laden. She helps keep the movie exciting even though most of the action only exists in the final 20-30 minutes.

Time to venture into controversial territory

That being said, I just couldn't get behind the subject matter. I felt like the film played at the overall emotions of the American people a tad too much (several people in the theater applauded when the SEALs radio in to confirm that they've killed OBL). Given everything that's happened I knew the movie was going to do this, but it's easy to be blinded by patriotism and not realize that his death was a hollow accomplishment. The ideology of OBL may never be wiped out, making him a martyr while his death does nothing to end the bloodshed. And let's not forget that America is, in many ways, responsible for the Taliban and the extremist views of OBL and his followers. It suddenly becomes much harder to be supportive knowing this. And what about all the questions still surrounding his death? Why were no photos or DNA evidence ever released? Why now after almost a decade of following a cold trail? Why was this story declassified so quickly while others are still kept under wraps, and just how accurate is the information in the official report? The list goes on.

Overall though, as a film, this one was certainly riveting. I just hope that peoples' judgment won't be clouded by patriotism when it comes to deciding awards.

Rating: B+

[Daft]

Although it's being sold as "the move about killing Bin Laden", ZDT is, IMHOm, much more about a character- Maya. And what Kathryn Bielow and Mark Boal accomplish here is worth of applauses. Maya is almost a one-a-kind character among all female characters we are used to see in Holywood.