Zero Dark Thirty
ZERO DARK THIRTY (15)
D: Kathryn Bigelow
Columbia/Universal/Annapurna (Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal
& Megan Ellison)
US 2012
157 mins
War/Drama
W: Mark Boal
DP: Greig Fraser
Ed: Dylan Tichenor & William Goldenberg
Mus: Alexandre Desplat
Jessica Chastain (Maya), Jason Clarke (Dan),
Jennifer Ehle (Jessica), Mark Strong (George), Kyle Chandler (Joseph Bradley), Joel Edgerton (Patrick), Chris Pratt (Justin)
Kathryn Bigelow's follow up to the Oscar-winning The Hurt
Locker is another Gulf War saga, this time it's about the CIA's efforts to target and eliminate Osama Bin Laden following the 9/11 attacks.
I have to admit I was quite disappointed with this movie.
It's 2 hours of build up for a climax that takes place in pitch darkness and you can barely make out what's going on. Fair enough that it's trying to be as realistic as possible with its
documentary style edge and Cinema Verite photography, but I felt I could've learned more about the operation from reading a few books or watching some real documentaries. Bigelow's film is
all Anti-Muslim and Pro-America.
Jessica Chastain plays a composite of real life characters
as the agent leading the operation & her only real character development is to argue with her bureaucratic authorities.
The film briefly touches on the 7/7 London bombings, but
since no Americans died in that, it quickly moves on.
Personally, I expected and wanted more from this film. At
best, it's a decent TV-movie-of-the-week thriller & at worst, it's a Michael Bay movie.
A film which will mean a lot more in America than it does
outside of it.
7/10
