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Friday, January 18, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty Review: What Can I Say?

I am at a complete loss as to what to say about it.  Normally I can point to something in the production I didn't like.  For example the acting, the shaking camera, etc.  Everything here is done well.  The acting was very good, except for a few shaky cam moments it looked really good.  There is absolutely no reason for me to not like this movie and yet I didn't like it.

If there is anything I'd say it was the pacing of the first hour and a half of the movie.  But even then it's understandable because it was all about building Chastain's character as a rookie agent into a badass leader willing to stick her neck out.  It's not like it could be cut.  It's needed to understand our protagonist.  While it does get boring at times, as a storyteller, you can't just assume the audience understands the relationship between the USA and Usama Bin Laden. 

Maybe it just wasn't for me.  It's a political docudrama.  Those aren't exactly words that scream grand cinema.  I know a lot of the movie was embellished to be a better story.  I'm guessing there really isn't an agent Maya out there somewhere.  I seriously doubt the gratuitous torture scenes really happened in that fashion.  It's just a lot of stuff embellished to tell a more interesting story.  It's a movie.  You can't fault it for punching up dry material.

It's a great movie.  It's well directed and deserves all the awards this movie wins.  It just wasn't the kind of movie I enjoy.

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