Rating of
3.5/4
The Dark Before the Dawn
Chris Kavan - wrote on 01/12/13
Although there is action to be found in Zero Dark Thirty, those looking for a typical action film aren't going to find it here. What we have is a methodical look into the mind of Maya, a CIA agent who spends the better part of a decade hunting down notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden. The story plays out like a game of chess - every move is calculated until one side makes a mistake. Lives are lost, people die but in the end, she gets her man.
Jessica Chastain has been getting a lot of attention for her portrayal of the rather hard-nosed and matter-of-fact CIA agent. That attention is rightfully deserved. Chastain manages to portray Maya as a woman on a mission - at times downright blunt and to-the-point, but isn't above showing her vulnerability during a very emotional and turbulent decade-long process of hunting down the world's most elusive man. She is a no-nonsense woman - who isn't afraid to speak her mind (and cuss a little) to get her point across. That most of the people around her are males doesn't seem to bother her a bit.
These people include Joseph Bradley (Kyle Chandler) as the station chief, the not-above-torture field agent Dan (a great turn by Jason Clarke) and the team she works with including Thomas (Jeremy Strong), Jack (Harold Perrineau), Steve (Mark Duplass) and the only other woman of note in the group Jessica (Jennifer Ehle). While the team overall is a counter-terrorism group, Maya has her eyes set on bringing down bin Laden. She is focused on a supposed courier, Abu Ahmed, as the link to finding bin Laden, as his name pops up again and again amongst the detainees.
Yet having a name and getting to the person are two separate things, as Abu Ahmed is simply an alias. Plus, the group is in constant danger and the film shows many consequences to working against the terrorist including a deadly bombing at the Islamabad Marriott Hotel, a bombing at Camp Champman that caused one of the greatest losses of life to CIA personnel and a more personal attack right at Maya's driveway. These incidents, along with mention of shoe-bomber Richard Reid and the London attacks in 2005, show the face of terrorism during this time.
A lot has been said about the supposed "pro-torture" stance that movie takes. While there is torture shown in the beginning, I would say the veracity that this the movie is pro-torture is just not true. In fact, it's shown early on that torture is a terrible interrogation method, as the man they focus on, Ammar, repeatedly refused to answer questions or gives false statements. It's not until they employ a kind of bait-and-switch tactic that they get anything useful out of him - something that doesn't even require torture at all. If anything, it proves that things like water boarding, dog collars and sleep deprivation are a repellant way to gain anything useful from people.
Some people may find the buildup to be a bit long - but, much like earlier film Argo, these things take time to develop. And the payoff is completely worth the effort. The last 20 minutes or so are devoted to following Seal Team 6 as they prepare to break into the compound where they have traced Ibrahim Sayeed (Abu Ahmed) and believe that bin Laden is hinding. Although only given a 60% probability, CIA chief Leon Panetta (James Gandolfini) signs off. Though I'm sure certain elements here were embellished for Hollywood sake - watching the actual deployment of this place is some of the most intense and tense moments I've had at the theater all year. Once again, like Argo, we know what the outcome will be, but it's creating that atmosphere of the unknown and following the characters, that make you sit on the edge of your seat waiting to see how it all turns out.
Kathryn Bigelow does a fantastic job and it's a shame she was overlooked for the Oscar, because I think this deserves it every bit as much (if not maybe even moreso) than The Hurt Locker. In a post 9-11 world, it took guts and determination to track down the most wanted man in the world. "Maya" may not have been alone, but she certainly wasn't the most popular agent out there either. By sticking to her guns, often amidst high risk (both personally and for her career) she brought down bin Laden. As the coda of the film suggests, after spending a good chunk of your life focusing on one man, it's hard to determine where to go next. But this is a story that needed to be told, and I, for one, am glad it was told in such a bold way.
