Wow, I sure am glad to be here. Watching movies has always been one of my very favorite pastimes and I couldn’t be more honored to be reviewing them for MOVE. It’s always been a dream of mine to work with movies in some way, so I’m going to think of this column as my little foray into the film industry. Might as well dive right into the controversial stuff, right?
Without a doubt, the most buzz-worthy movie of 2012 was “Zero Dark Thirty,” Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to 2008’s “The Hurt Locker.” This time, Bigelow tells the story of the decade-long manhunt for Osama Bin Laden and the often-controversial events that led up to his death.
The movie follows CIA agent Maya (played with immense gravity by Jessica Chastain) who dedicates her life to tracking Bin Laden. Chastain is quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s most impressive and sought-after actresses in what I’m going to refer to as the “Era of Jessica Chastain.” Last year, Chastain appeared out of nowhere and starred in “The Debt,” “The Tree of Life” and even scored her first Oscar nomination for her role in “The Help.” Since then, she’s worked on project after project, and she has yet to disappoint.
The rest of the movie is just as impressive as its lead actress. The supporting cast is stellar, rounded out by the likes of Mark Strong and James Gandolfini and even featuring a little comic relief courtesy of Chris Pratt and Mark Duplass. Jason Clarke, who will be on the big screen again in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming “The Great Gatsby,” gives an especially impressive performance as a shrewd interrogator.
The running time of 2 hours and 37 minutes is fairly daunting, but it’s not even the longest movie of the season (looking at you, Bilbo Baggins). Fortunately the action is well-paced and exciting from start to finish. There are just enough out-of-nowhere explosions to keep you on the edge of your seat, too. And let it be known there’s no shame in casually resting the side of your head in your hand so you can conveniently cover one of your ears. Because seriously, that stuff is loud.
In all honesty, watching “Zero Dark Thirty” is actually a stressful experience. You know that Maya gets Bin Laden in the end (…spoiler?) but you’re nervous nonetheless. Everything about the movie just adds to the intensity and the urgency until you find yourself pulling the hood of your jacket over your head in an attempt to feel some kind of security. Not that I did that or anything.
The cinematography is wholly affecting with tasteful close-ups and a touch of shakiness. The score is subtle and combined with vague Middle Eastern chants to enhance the mood. In the final act of the movie, when the action gets particularly intense, the epic “Inception”-style orchestral blaring comes into play to really set your nerves on end.
“Zero Dark Thirty” is definitely not for the faint-of-heart. The movie doesn’t try to sugarcoat any of the goings-on in the interrogation rooms of the detainee prison camp around which a considerable fraction of the movie is based. As a result, some of the torture scenes are a little hard to watch. But the decision to show even the goriest details added a gritty and much-appreciated sense of realism to the film.
Although politicians have made statements proclaiming that “Zero Dark Thirty” is factually incorrect with regards to interrogation processes and have even gone so far as to call for boycotts, their words have done little to deter the public. It’s already earned more than $54 million in box office sales, according to rottentomatoes.com, and it’s only been in wide release for two weeks. Sure, not much can be said about the movie’s accuracy since the entire operation has been kept under wraps, and government officials have had little else to say about it other than “it’s wrong,” which is a little fishy. But, as a standalone film, it certainly earned its Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
