Zero Dark Thirty is a grim, detached portrait of the CIA manhunt for Osama bin Laden. Technically it is brilliant, utilizing its handheld camera to the peak of its potential. Professionally shooting the Seal Team 6 sequence impeccably, making it look like it could have come straight from a documentary.
First things first, I'm generally not the biggest fan of war movies. There are always exceptions, most recently with The Hurt Locker and, now again with Zero Dark Thirty. Two movies from Kathryn Bigelow. What I loved about Locker was how it became not about war or fighting, but a character drama about an adrenaline junkie and I was hoping for something similar here. Unfortunately much of the character development falls very short. Minimalistic interactions between characters give fleeting glances at what these people went through, where they came from, how learning new information affects their relationships with one another.
At its pivotal moment, Zero Dark Thirty is hollow. I go to the movies to see a plot with developed characters and relationships, not to just see a condensed ten-year news report, from what the CIA will share, of what happened.
Jessica Chastain gives a decent performance, with a few cursory moments proving her acting ability. It's hard to truly put a word to her performance; how can you, when the majority of her time on screen is spent silently looking off camera. I felt more like I was watching a high schooler getting her senior pictures taken for much of the film. Brevity is probably the most appropriate term here. However, the moments where she holds nothing back are incredible and add much needed, albeit minuscule, emotion to the movie. Maybe that's the point. How calculating and cold you have to become to be in charge of something like this. Jason Clarke easily steals the screen when he shares it. Playing an interrogator who beats and tortures detainees, gives a brief glimpse at the humanity some people risked as a part of this manhunt.
One thing I was sure Zero would be is a love-letter to America. I was pleasantly surprised with a general worldly look at the hunt. Instead of focusing on only the United States, Zero Dark Thirty does an outstanding job reminding the audience that it was not just this country in search of Bin Laden, but that it affected the entire world.
Where Zero Dark Thirty really shines is its development of information-getting techniques used throughout this hunt. The torture scenes were uncomfortable, but rightfully so. How can people be up in arms about torture methods exposed periodically during the war and the hunt for Bin Laden. They were dark, gritty, and felt real. Yes, there were parts that seemed excessive, but isn't that what happened in the real search? As a country the first thing thought to do was torture anyone thought could have an iota of information as to the whereabouts of Bin Laden. Later in the movie the interrogation techniques lighten up, but still hold the same power.
Mark Bohl and the whole team working on the script had quite a task ahead of them when they began rewriting it after Bin Laden was announced dead. What worked very well was the final twenty-ish minutes of the movie, where Seal Team 6 makes the move into the compound. This sequence and its unabashed use of torture, when needed, are Zero Dark Thirty's saving graces.
In the end I wouldn't be upset if it won best picture, but I really don't know that it will. Both Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook were expertly crafted from top to bottom. My advice to you, don't take Zero Dark Thirty as pure fact or pure fiction, but how you take tequila, with a grain (usually more) of salt.
8/10
