Movie Review: Zero Dark Thirty

The final movie in AMC’s all-day viewing was Zero Dark Thirty.  The story follows the search for the greatest known terrorist to America, Osama Bin Laden.  The main character, Maya, is transplanted from a cushy job with the CIA in Washington, DC to Pakistan and parts unknown.  She searches with a small team, using any means necessary to discern the truth from captives, those known to associate with Bin Laden or those he works with.

As this plays out in recent history, it was much easier to follow the timeline, meet characters we’d heard about only through reports after their deaths.  Seeing the terrorist acts replayed in a movie was a lot to take in, especially some that feel, literally, too close to home.  I still feel like talking about 9/11 is too soon, but that might just be me.

Jessica Chastain deserved more than a nomination for her role in this movie.  After watching Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook, I was more convinced of this, but I’m not an Academy voter, so my voice doesn’t matter.  There was one great scene were Chastain lays into Kyle Chandler’s Joseph Bradley.  The intensity in that scene alone was eye-catching and worthy of an Academy Award.  The story was still, to me, steeped in conspiracy theory.  Even when the big reveal occurs, as a movie goer, I was no more convinced of who had been killed than when it happened in real life.  Bigelow is masterful in her storytelling and she should have been given more credit for her work as well.  This is a tough movie to watch, but well worth seeing.