The operation that killed Osama bin Laden is not without controversy. Anything surrounding terrorism is, and always will be, a loaded subject. Some people even accuse Kathryn Bigelow's movie Zero Dark Thirty of being a propaganda piece. I have no comment on all of that, because I just write about movies as movies.
As an aside, apparently, 2012 was the year of the CIA movie since Zero Dark Thirty lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to Argo. Yeah, yeah, but what about this movie?
This movie is all about Jessica Chastain, and she rightfully earned a Best Actress nomination for her role as Maya. More to the point, this movie is all about Maya's obsession. It shouldn't come as a surprise that she is obsessed with finding Osama bin Laden. With each event Maya believes she is getting closer to finding bin Laden, but that isn't really the case.
The supporting actors are all quite solid, such as Kyle Chandler and Jennifer Ehle, but the two that really stick out for me were Reda Kateb (as the detainee Ammar) and Jason Clarke (as the CIA officer Dan). The interaction between Ammar and Dan is uncomfortable on many levels, but it would be hard to say it isn't convincing. There is also a considerable amount of torture in the film. You've been warned.
This movie could easily fall into the category of "not needing to see again," not because it is a bad movie, but because it hits a little too close to home. You already know the story, and yet the tension is there. So many emotions surrounding the subject matter are evoked by the film that it could be the kind of thing you don't want to revisit.
9/10, although I reserve the right to roll it back to 8/10 if I ever watch it again. I thought it was a great movie, but there's something about it I can't put my finger on.
