I can't say that I was overly impressed with Zero Dark Thirty, but I wasn't underwhelmed either. This movie is like walking that fine line of "if they had just done this..." or, "if they had just said that..." then the movie would have been an exhilarating experience. As it stands, Zero Dark Thirty, in that regard, is an utter failure. Before you lose your mind, understand this, ZDT is a technically proficient film. Kathryn Bigelow's budget is readily apparent on the screen (a far larger budget than her Hurt Locker film). The cooperation she received from the military to make this film could almost make you wonder if there was some money handed under the table (that wasn't my original line, but I didn't want anyone calling me sexist). The explosions are loud, the blood is plentiful, and the fear is palpable. Kathryn makes a great statement in this film about terrorism, it can strike anywhere at anytime. Unfortunately that's the only thing this film exceeds in saying.
The story line is WEAK! Wait, that's me being to kind. The story line is virtually NON-EXISTENT! That's better. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know what you're going to say, "Mark, the story line is all about the pursuit and murder of the one man that ordered the murder of 3000+ Americans on 9/11" which is correct, but tell me this, who DOESN'T know that? This film brings you nothing new except all the behind the scenes shenanigans and posturing of the CIA and the United Sates Government during that hunt and honestly, that's just not an interesting story, mainly because there is no story. Written by Mark Boal, this story is about a ghost, no not bin Laden who was a ghost, it's about the ghost that chased him down. Her name is Maya, played wonderfully by Jessica Chastain (a star is rising). Maya comes out of nowhere and thrown into the fray after 9/11 to help fight terrorism. Her first assignment, before even getting to her desk is to watch the "interrogation of a detainee" (torture). The man doing the interrogation is Dan, played ruthlessly by Jason Clarke (who worked alongside Jessica in Lawless).
From there, Maya is all in. Late nights and early mornings, Maya is on the job at her desk. Who she is and where she comes from is never told. How she got the assignment or why is again, never told. Who she knows or what she knows is yep, you guessed it, never told. This super spy from the CIA is a ghost. She has no friends, no boyfriend or fiance back home, and no sexual inclinations of any kind. She's a robot and that does little to endear her to the viewing audience. She shows one moment of emotion and vulnerability, wait, my mistake, she actually shows two moments. One when she's almost assassinated by two guys with AK-47's who shoot at her car and at the end of the film. And speaking about the film, it's all over the place. Now, I don't know if this is Mark the writer's fault or Kathryn the director's fault, but this movie's timeline is as loose as baby poo. YES, that's me being kind, again.
You hardly know what year it is and since no one visibly ages on screen, you as the viewer just has to guess. What you do know is that it all takes place after 9/11 and bin Laden's death on May 2, 2011. Everything between those two monumental moments, in this film, is a crap shoot. The cast is great, outstanding performances by Kyle Chandler as Joseph Bradley, Jennifer Ehle as Jessica, Harold Perrineau as Jack, Mark Strong (one of my favorites) as George, Edgar Ramirez as Larry, and James Gandolfini as the CIA Director. It's too bad the storyline couldn't match the talent of the cast. The intensity does get ratcheted up towards the end of the film with the raid on Osama's compound but that whole thing was longer than it needed to be. In my opinion, it was done so for those guys (and girls) that are Call of Duty gamers. You know the ones, those people that wait outside of a video game store for hours when the new first shooter game hits the shelves, yeah the final ten minutes is for them.
I really wanted to like this film and a part of me really did, but my reaction to it mirrored the audiences when the credits rolled. There was a smattering of applause but the air was teeming with indifference. Go see it, judge for yourself, is this a movie worthy of a best picture of the year nomination, or is it a film you'll get on DVD...eventually? I say nay but let me know what you think, and I'll see you at the theater!
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