Zero Dark Thirty

Kathryn Bigelow is proving that she is a force to be reckoned with. 2008’s “The Hurt Locker” took home Best Picture at the Oscars, and in my opinion it deserved it. Bigelow’s ex-husband, James Cameron was in the Best Picture category with his record-setting film “Avatar” which obviously didn’t win.

“Zero Dark Thirty” features Jessica Chastain who plays Maya, a CIA operative whose only job out of High School (when she was recruited) to the present has been the manhunt for Osama Bin Laden. She puts her sweat, blood and tears into finding Bin Laden and killing him. While she is on the part of intelligence for the operation, she is witness to some brutal torture tactics used to get information from Al Quaeda contacts. There is an interview with President Obama explaining that the U.S. does not use torture tactics, while they are doing exactly that. This film does not shed a positive light on President Obama. Kathryn Bigelow really takes a strong position on the topic that she is covering.

**SPOILER ALERT**

The film progresses through the intelligence of locating Bin Laden. For a lot of the film, although the viewer might find themselves yawning, it is really fascinating to watch. After a lot of criticism, Maya receives clearance to pursue the location she believes Bin Laden is located. The Navy Seal Team 6 (DEVGRU) is sent to investigate the location. They get in and do their thing and find that Bin Laden is in fact there. They shoot their way through the three-level home, and only after asking one of the children at the location who one of the men is that they killed, do they find out that it is in fact Bin Laden. They call it back in that they have killed their target, and Maya can’t believe it. However, it becomes very well when DEVGRU returns with a body bag, and she unzips it to see the face of the most dangerous man in the world. The realization hits as to what she helped accomplish, and it is more than she can take. She sits on the helicopter that is taking her “wherever she wants” and tears start to stream down her face, the exhaustion of what she has been through the last few years, very evident.

This is a hard-hitting winner. Kathryn Bigelow’s Directing is superb. Jessica Chastain is phenomenal in her role as Maya, and really drives the whole story forward. The supporting cast, especially Jason Clarke (Lawless), adds a lot to the story as well. Clarke brings a lot of intensity to the film as the one who really exposes Maya to what she is going to be dealing with in the operation they are involved in, by exposing her to the harsh reality of the situation, and showing her the tactics they are using to get the information they need. There is a certain level of a loss of innocence that Maya goes through. She is behind a desk for most of what she does. But to see firsthand what is happening, really breaks her down, and as she rebuilds herself, her commitment to killing Bin Laden is absolute all the way to where she looks at him inside of the body bag.

In this Oscar season, films are proving their worth. “Zero Dark Thirty” is an important film. It is important that we know what happened, and how Bin Laden was taken down. I can’s speak for the whole film, but in the end, when DEVGRU pursue and kill Bin Laden, it is dead on with the book “No Easy Day” which is a great read, and a firsthand account of the DEVGRU unit going in and taking out their target. This is a film that should not be missed.

– David B. Harrington