ZERO DARK THIRTY Review

ZERO DARK THIRTY Review

By Darin Skaggs

     “This film is based on true events.”  Many films have this claim on the front of their movie and there are many different ways that they are told.  Movies like Apollo 13 are told through many different characters.  Others are inspirational like Rudy or Remember the Titans.  Some focus on one character like The Pianist or Kathrin Bigalow’s new film Zero Dark Thirty.

     The film opens with a black screen then followed with a collection of voices.  It is soon revealed that these phone calls and reporters are all from September 11^th, 2001.  Then it jumps to two years later.  The films focus is on Jessica Chastain’s character among others trying to find any leads on finding Osama Bin Laden.  If you have had any intake of any type of news for the past few years you know the conclusion to this film but it is still one of the most impactful and entrancing films of the year.

     A film released previously this year that was also based on a true story is Ben Affleck’s Argo.  This film was very good, but at times felt too Hollywood by adding jokes and just-in-time moments.  This film is very serious with very little jokes and plays out more real life than Argo did.  This realism could not be done without the actors.  Jessica Chastain gives an amazing performance as she becomes more and more obsessed about finding Bin Laden.  Everyone else is good too, but they have smaller roles which is okay because the film is supposed to be led by Chastain.

     The film never goes into anyone’s background.  This is not a bad thing however, the film is about obsession and getting revenge.  We don’t need to know why Chastain cares so much about catching this man, you can speculate that she might have lost someone in 9/11 or that she just doesn’t like it when bad things happen to innocent people.  Other characters motivation could be that they just care about the country.  The reasons are never explained but they are there in subtle ways.

     This film is one of the best directed of the year.  Bigalow gets great performances out of all the actors.  The pacing of the film is great.  The movie is two and a half hours long, but does not feel that way.  Not much even happens, but the motivation of the characters and the fact that not one of them can seem to grasp on to any useful information keeps you invested in the story.  When they do however get a hold of a lead to Bin Laden, especially the last thirty minutes of the film it is some of the most intense sequences for film in a long while.  This also leads to some of the most telling and brutally honest endings to a film that have come out in years.

     Zero Dark Thirty is one of the most honest and hair raising films in the last few years.  The film has great performances all around and in my opinion is the best directed film this year.