Zero Dark Thirty Preview

On September 11, 2001, a terrorist group known as Al Qaeda carried out the worst attack by a foreign country on US soil.  In the decade that followed, several covert and overt operations have been carried out in retaliation against those responsible for the attack and in efforts to track down their elusive leader, Osama Bin Laden.  Zero Dark Thirty is the story of the success of a small military group knows as Navy SEAL Team Six in accomplishing this goal.  Maya (Jessica Chastain) is a new CIA operative and she has the uncomfortable job of overseeing the interrogation of prisoners after the Al Qaeda attacks.  Although she is reluctant to be a part of it, Maya truly believes this is the only way to get any viable information as to the location of Osama Bin Laden. After a decade of pursuit, Maya is sure she has discovered Bin Laden's whereabouts, and SEAL Team Six is sent to capture or kill the terrorist mastermind, but she is the only one confident in her findings.

Based on actual events, Zero Dark Thirty looks to be an emotionally charged, gut-wrenchingly uncomfortable, frustrating movie.  Movies like this tend to do three things: point out how inept and inefficient our government is, demonize an entire race of people because of a small faction of radicals, and glorify the actions of those following orders as brave heroes.  The preview, unfortunately, looks like it has the real potential to accomplish all three of those.  More than ten years after 9/11, many are still left with doubt and questions about how the attacks on our country actually happened, and many more are still cynical about our countries military response to those attacks.  Although I don't know anyone, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, who doesn't agree it was a victorious day when we found and killed Osama Bin Laden, this film is sure to make everyone take a moment to reflect on what it took to get him and ultimately poses the question: does the end justify the means?   

This type of movie is difficult as a viewer because you are constantly debating how much is Hollywood liberty with telling an entertaining story, and how much is actually true.  Regardless of how much of either is represented in Zero, I just hope I don't walk away feeling like this movie was propaganda of any kind towards the United States, Pakistan, or any military branches.  With all the hype, I'm hoping for 4 stars.  With all the controversy, I'm not expecting more than 3.  So I'll call it in the middle and predict 3.5 stars.  Am I right?  We shall see.