Full disclosure: Zero Dark Thirty is not my type of movie. I knew that going in. I'm not a big war movie person. I'm not a big undercover agent espionage movie person. This isn't a stance on anything, or a sign of my squeamishness; I don't like those movies because most of the characters seem extremely one-dimensional, and I often have a hard time telling them apart. (This is how Argo differed and why it appealed to me.) So I would normally have never seen this movie. But making an oath to see as many Oscar-nominated movies as possible isn't all fun and games, people! We have to make SACRIFICES. And it helps to prep yourself by eating a box of Goobers.
For background, Zero Dark Thirty tells the story of how the U.S., and specifically the CIA, caught uber-terrorist Osama bin Laden. The story obviously begins on Sept. 11, 2001, but it really begins two years later, when CIA operative Maya arrives in the Middle East. Maya learns the ropes from the people she's with: how to torture, what type of information to look for, etc. Eventually, it becomes obvious that Maya is a force to be reckoned with and she soon discovers the trail of Abu Ahmed, believed to be one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers.
For the next eight or so years, we watch Maya follow leads, lose leads, lose friends, find new leads, and kick butt, and the whole thing culminates with the famous Seal Team Six infiltration of bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.
This is the third movie I've seen in recent weeks where I knew the end going in. Drama or not, I knew Abraham Lincoln would pass the 13th Amendment and then get shot in the theater. I knew the six American hostages would get out of Iran alive. And I knew this movie would end with a member of Seal Team Six shooting bin Laden in the eye. The sign of a great movie based on actual events is that it creates suspense despite everyone knowing the end. I still found myself gasping as Ben Affleck led the hostages out of the Iran airport. I still wondered just how Lincoln's band of merrymakers, led by James Spader, would convince enough politicians to pass the amendment. I didn't really feel that with Zero Dark Thirty.
It's weird: of the three movies, this should be the one that moved me the most. I lived through 9/11, the subsequent years, and the eventual assassination of bin Laden. I remember how I felt, how people reacted. It was heart-wrenching, every step of the way. And yet this is the story I felt least affected by. I thought Jessica Chastain was fabulous as Maya, showing a tough, smart woman who wasn't too cartoonish. She had connections and friends and she was affected by what she did and saw, but she wasn't the girly girl that had to be toughened up by the big strong men, which would have been the obvious route. (One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when she's left alone with terrorist in mid-torture. The guy notices her hesitation and discomfort in what she's watching and appeals to her, asking for her help. She steps forward...and then tells him that it's up to him to stop the torture. Way to show what this woman is all about.)
However, I didn't feel connected to her. Part of that was impossible: Maya is a conglomeration of multiple people, and the one woman she is mostly drawn from is still an active agent, and therefore,the filmmakers weren't able to give too many details about her. But the other characters were like this, too. Seal Team Six, in particular, seemed like 20 different incarnations of the same guy.
I'm not saying I didn't enjoy parts of the movie. I actually enjoyed the first half very much. But the second seemed so chock-full of bureaucracy and "yes, this is the guy...oh wait, no it's not...oh yes it is!" back-and-forth that I was ready to get on with it.
In the end, this is one of those movies I'm glad I saw. Like a documentary, it's interesting and I'm glad I know this about our nation's recent history. But I can't say I especially enjoyed the experience and I'm probably never going to watch this movie again.
In the Oscar race, Zero Dark Thirty is up for Best Picture, Best Actress (Chastain) and Best Original Screenplay. Chastain, I think, has the best chance to win it, although my heart still lies with J-Law. The big controversy was how Kathryn Bigelow wasn't nominated for Best Director. Is it sexism? Is it because of the questions about where she got her story? Or is it because other movies were better directed? I still think Ben Affleck should have received a nomination before Bigelow. While she did tell a complex story in a compelling way, I don't know how much better it was than the other nominees in the category. But then again, I'm not a war movie person.
Updated Oscar Viewing List:
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
The Master
Flight
The Impossible
The Sessions
Frankenweenie
Wreck-It Ralph
ParaNorman
Brave
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugarman
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