MOVIE REVIEW - Zero Dark Thirty

There has been a ton of chatter about the new Kathryn Bigelow directed Zero Dark Thirty, finally opening up nationwide this weekend.

This is astoundingly good.  Bigelow was the same woman that gave us The Hurt Locker a couple years ago, which won the Oscar for Best Picture.  As good and as intense as that was, this is better. Zero Dark Thirty is about everything that is good about movie making.

This is the story of the CIA's ten year manhunt for Osama Bin Laden.  This real star of this movie is its supreme storytelling, and it's singular focus on the people that really did the work to find Bin Laden.   It begins in 2001 right after 9-11, and ends with the Seal Team 6 raid on the compound where Bin Laden was killed.  More directly, this centers round a CIA Agent "Maya" and her obsession to follow her leads all around the world, to bring him to justice.

What ZDT really does that separates itself from many other movies is its central focus.  It allows the movie to tell the story.  There are no printed story boards to read, no character narration, and no real graphics to tell you who characters are.  In fact, one thing I found very intriguing.  In the scenes in Washington D.C., there is never any mention of any politicians name in any fashion, including the president past and current.  And this movie doesn't go one yard to give anyone affiliated with any administration, or agency in Washington D.C. any of the credit.   But rather the people that really did the job.  The spotlight stays squarely on them.   That helps keep the story on focus and moving in one direction.

War of any kind is messy stuff.  And this war of course has been a different kind of war, and The Hurt Locker showed that, and so does this.  ZDT, is taking some heat by many for showing the "enhanced interrogation techniques"  that the CIA at one time used against the captured terrorists.  And there is a fair amount of it in this movie.  So, if that is something that offends you, or are extremely uncomfortable with than a different movie may be in store for you.   This pulls no punches, it's direct, straight forward and tells the story in all of it's raw form.

This movie was given unprecedented access to information by the agencies of the Federal Government.  And at the movies inception, they do tell you this story is based on actual eyewitness accounts of these events around the world.   Is this a true story?  Because we're dealing with the CIA more than likely literally no.  But it certainly feels like you are there every step of the way.   But this is not a stand up and cheer rah, rah movie.  It is intense, and serious in every frame of it's 2 hours and 30 minutes.  ZDT is incredibly intelligent in very facet.  It's writing, filming, brilliant acting and it's ability to keep you engaged even when the subject on screen is difficult to understand, or watch.

This movie is beautifully crafted with fine actors, sets, locations, and music.  You can tell that they were making something they thought would be important, a movie to stand up over time. One thing that ZDT will be known for, there will never be another movie made about this subject that will ever measure up to this, or be taken as seriously.

Zero Dark Thirty.  Great is not a big enough word.