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Not for the faint-of-heart, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ impresses

Maya%2C+played+by+Jessica+Chastain%2C+awaits+the+operation+to+kill+Osama+bin+Laden.
Maya, played by Jessica Chastain, awaits the operation to kill Osama bin Laden.

By Price Zimmer | Arts & Entertainment Editor

Walking a fine line, the film “Zero Dark Thirty” is an intense experience based on the search and eventual killing of Osama bin Laden. Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal airAmerica’s dirty laundry in a movie that is definitely not for everyone.

Maya, played by Jessica Chastain, is the CIA analyst who spends the better part of a decade in Pakistan searching for an elusive courier Abu Ahmed, which leads her to bin Laden. The movie shares her singular focus on the capture of bin Laden, Bigelow does not focus on background or explanation, instead dealing in narrative and experiences.

Easily the most divisive issue of the entire movie, torture comprises roughly the first forty five minutes of “Zero Dark Thirty,” in the early stages of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  While Bigelow and Boal do not outright condone torture, Maya and her CIA compatriots are for it, and it is up to the viewer to make that judgment call; be warned, there is a water boarding in the first fifteen minutes.

Most of the film is Maya running in to all kinds of brick walls, dead ends, false-positives and general bureaucratic stagnation; the only solution being time, and the longer the search goes on, the higher the body count. This includes a particularly intense encounter with a supposed double-agent working in the inner council of al Qaida. Needless to the say, it does not end well and serves to further propel Maya.

Eventually, after about two hours of Maya slowly making progress, the movie turns to the Navy SEAL raid on Abbottabad. Conducted in real-time, mainly through infra-red goggles of the SEALs and is filled with jargon, which puts the viewer squarely in the middle of the action. The scene is a masterwork and it is not be a stretch to say that the killing of bin Laden saves this movie, and makes the two hours of build-up worth the price of admission.

A movie that is so focused on an incredibly determined heroine, Chastain is excellent. In a role that many lesser actors would butcher with overacting, Chastain shows a nuanced refinement that gives power to the more high-octane, emotionally charged moments. The final shot of the film is haunting and is one of the best shots in all of 2012.

The rest of the cast handles their parts well and come off as believable spies; less James Bond and more as grizzled analyst that have spent too much time in the field hunting terrorists in horrible conditions. Jason Clarke is admirable as Dan, Maya’s training officer, who introduces Maya and the audience to the real ‘War on Terror.’ Joel Edgerton is solid in his portrayal of Patrick, the leader of the SEALs, and gives the audience a centering point of sorts in the final act of the film.

Boal gives the audience a film almost entirely made up of narrative, and this can be too high-brow for many people. He does not give explanations; the audience knows almost nothing of Maya’s background by films end, but instead gives tale that is meant to be experienced. Most importantly, Boal allows the audience to make their own determinations, not just on the final meaning of the film, but also the last decade of war.

In the end, this is a great film that goes right up the edge of ‘too far,’ but does not force the opinion of the cast or crew onto the audience. Merely, “Zero Dark Thirty” presents an approximation of the hunt of Osama bin Laden, and lets the audience experience the movie, and America’s ‘War on Terror’ in whatever way they choose.

Grade: A+, but certainly not for everyone.

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