Zero Dark Thirty

I have a feeling that my review of Zero Dark Thirty is not going to be very popular. There were aspects of the movie that were interesting and parts that were well done but it was not as interesting and well done as I would have hoped.  Considering that Kathryn Bigelow was the director (also the director of The Hurt Locker; a movie I really liked), perhaps I expected too much.

It was interesting to see how a high level investigation is conducted although I hope it isn't based so much on the true story that too much is shown.  I guess there are people who handle that and they probably don't need me to tell them that.  (you're welcome CIA)  The movie focuses on the CIA manhunt of Osama bin Laden.   The best part of the movie, by far, was the final raid, by the Navy SEAL team, on the bin Laden compound.

It was amazing and terrifying to see what it would have been like to conduct this raid in the secrecy of night.  Going into a dark house and not knowing what is on the other side of the door is not something I am equipped to do.  It is a good reminder to me to be grateful for people who can and will risk their lives in dangerous situations.  As a movie blogger,  I am not going to go into my own opinion of the operation as a whole or the political implications but I think no matter what side you are on you will find much of this movie to be interesting.

The movie had the biggest impact on me at the end.  We don't see cheering or fanfare, we only see somber faces coming back from the mission knowing they had accomplished what they were sent to do.  There was something very human about the silence during the final scenes that made me connect with the characters much more than I had done throughout the entirety of the movie.  I'm not sure if this can be attributed to writing, acting or directing but, on a whole, I didn't find myself connecting with the characters.  You know when you go to a movie and you feel like you don't really care what happens to the people in it?  That is not the feeling I wanted to have during a movie that is based on a true story.  I think I would probably care deeply about the people they are portraying in real life, but the movie just didn't evoke those emotions for me.  I did, however, feel a lot of emotion while watching the prison torture and/or interrogation scenes; those are just plain hard to watch.

While I don't read reviews before I post my own, I have heard Oscar buzz about this movie.  That explains my "huh?" reaction.  I don't think this is a bad movie and I won't tell you to pass it up but I just don't think it was all that.  This would make a good rental but the scope of it also makes it worth seeing in a theater.  This is an actual event that happened in our lifetimes; for this reason alone I think this movie is worth seeing.  OK, I've got one more good reason to see it:  Michael from Lost is in it.

Zero Dark Thirty is rated R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language.  

What do you think of Ronda's Reaction to Zero Dark Thirty?