The last time I remember clapping at the end of a movie was during the climax of "Independence Day" when Randy Quaid bravely flies his biplane straight into the alien mothership saving us all from annihilation. The act of clapping at the end of the movie is now what I like to call a "douche move", once people started clapping at the end of Tyler Perry movies that's when it "jumped the shark". Upon viewing "Zero Dark Thirty" I almost got the urge to clap in approval and while I withstood the urge I can easily say that "Zero Dark Thirty" is my #2 favorite movie of the year.
Unless you've been under a rock you at the very least know that "Zero Dark Thirty" is about the 10 year hunt for Osama bin Laden in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001. The main character is a young CIA operative named Maya played by the excellent Jessica Chastain. Maya takes on the task of helping find UBL (bin Laden's code name) along the way there are misleads, deaths and politics all getting in the way of the lone ultimate goal. The movie is an epic journey, made more fascinating by the fact that this has all gone on during our lifetime. This movie has no political agenda, it takes no sides. Controversy surrounding torture scenes in the beginning of the movie should not shadow what is accomplished here. The scenes in question are disturbing as they should be but anyone should be able to figure out that this method does not directly lead to UBL's capture/death, I can understand politicians being upset as this may shed a bad light on the country but its not overwrought or overdone.
I've often written about running time in movies and how 99% of the time movies are at best 20-25 minutes longer than they need to be. "ZDT" runs in at almost 3 hours in length and a common complaint is that nothing happens until the raid on the Bin Laden compound. If you are looking for a typical action movie then this is not the film for you, if it was we'd have Sylvester Stallone in a turban running around shouting out tag lines just before blowing up UBL with a bazooka. "ZDT" makes you think about what is happening during this 10 year period, the path the characters take is not always easy and may not always be the right one, the film lets you decide.
Sacramento's own Jessica Chastain gives her best performance here, the character is based on an actual CIA operative that was the frontrunner in finding/killing Bin Laden, due to security reasons not much else is known about her but Chastain commands the screen and the character really has structure and depth thanks to screenwriter Mark Boal "The Hurt Locker" the rest of the cast is mostly unknown or character actors sans for James Gandolfini as C.I.A. director Leon Panetta and Chris Pratt from "Parks and Recreation" as one of the Navy Seals sent in to the compound.
"ZDT" ultimately lost out to "Argo" for best picture at the Oscars, I cant say I'm ultimately surprised, "Argo" is like "ZDT" for red states-much more accessible and easier to follow. They are actually two great companion pieces of film but ultimately "ZDT" is a more important film, especially for those of us who have lived and experienced the time it represents.
