Catching up on 2012: Zero Dark Thirty Review

American Soldiers Carrying out an important mission in Zero Dark Thirty 

©Columbia Pictures

Zero Dark Thirty

A+

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Terrorism and combating terrorism is one of the most important aspects of most western intelligent agencies. After the events of 9/11 the United States have been especially vigilant its anti-terrorism efforts, going to many extremes to hunt and capture certain targets. Perhaps the greatest of all these missions is the manhunt of Osama Bin Laden, a mission that took a lot of time, money, and manpower. This is where Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty comes in as it takes a behind the curtain look on to the events that transpired during the time. The result is a compelling thriller and a gripping character study. It may also be Kathryn Bigelow’s masterpiece.

Zero Dark Thirty opens with the events of 9/11, which are depicted only through sound, and ends with the killing of Bin Laden. Between the bookends the film follows CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) and her hunt for Bin Laden and his associates. She begins her journey witnessing her first torture operation lead by senior officer Dan (Jason Clark). Maya was dropped into Pakistan at a young age and after Dan becomes tired of the operation she takes over. The film follows Maya’s quest for Bin Laden while the clock is ticking and attacks are becoming more and more frequent.

Zero Dark Thirty is an amazing espionage thriller that pulls no punches in its depiction of what when into the hunt for Bin Laden. Torture and excessive force are used to show just how far the CIA was willing to go to find its target. The true genius of the film is tight rope it walks with the hunt as it never glorifies the idea of torture for a certain cause and allows for the ethical and moral questions to be brought up, but at the same time made the characters sympathetic enough to root for. This isn’t no rah rah go America movie as it clearly states that some of the things that are done to find Bin Laden are most certainly wrong.

The other aspect of Zero Dark Thirty is the compelling on the fly character study that is presented. Jessica Chastain delivers the female performance of the year as the powerful and overcommitted Maya. Chastain plays the character with a shell of toughness while never loosing the heart or emotional aspects of the character. The character study is weaved carefully within the espionage in a way that is effective and powerful. Unlike in the Hurt Locker, in which many of the character moments were a little bit out of place, the character moments in Zero Dark Thirty always work and ultimately provide a powerful emotional heart to the espionage spine.

Supporting performances come and go in this film and there are some fleeting moments of good acting as the film moves on. Jason Clark does good work as a superior officer and is perhaps the supporting actor with the most screen time. The rest of the supporting cast is filled with character actors and TV actors that pop in and out of the film as the story sees fit. All do solid work with what they are given, but ultimately this is the Jessica Chastain show and the film is much better for it.

Zero Dark Thirty also has the advantage of looking great as well. The film is well shot with a variety of shot styles used throughout the film. The action scenes including depictions of an attack on the CIA and the capture of Bin Laden are absolutely fantastic and prove yet again that Kathryn Bigelow is a top notch action director. The score is nothing impressive but does create enough atmosphere and provide enough energy to be affective throughout the film.

Zero Dark Thirty may be Kathryn Bigelow’s masterpiece, plain and simple. Form the energetic espionage thriller skeleton to the heart of a powerful character study Zero Dark Thirty has practically everything that can be asked from this sort of military thriller. The film also manages to take a smart look on the ethics of a man hunt of this scale without political interference.  Add in the best female performance of 2012 with Jessica Chastain’s spellbinding performance as the over obsessed CIA agent Maya and Zero Dark Thirty easily finds itself amongst the very best of an already amazing year for film.