Zero Dark Thirty

[Art]

I watched this the other night. The reason it really got my attention was that before the election the Republicans complained that its release was timed to help Barak Obama and after the Democrats complained it was too friendly to the Bush administration's "enhanced interrogation" techniques. One Republican even accused the film makers of having improper access to records.

I figured anything that had irritated both sides that much I needed to see.

As might be expected the names have been changed and characters combined to protect just about everybody involved.

I found the movie riveting, fascinating and very straightforward. I felt it really let the chips fall where they may and was a serious attempt to examine the whole process that led to the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. It also shows unflinchingly, that fighting organized global terrorism is a very, very nasty business indeed. The last scene was one of the best directed I have ever seen and Jessica Chastain absolutely deserved her Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe win for her part in it. I also thought James Gandolfini was excellent as Leon Panetta.

[dave]

I just saw it a week ago and concur!

[PKelly]

I thought it was a good fictionalized account of the greatest manhunt in history and very entertaining. The only ones who play faster and looser with the truth than politicians are Hollywood types, so it's best to look at their product simply as entertainment. I'd also crawl across broken glass for Jessica Chastain, so there's that too.

[Art]

I thought it was a good fictionalized account of the greatest manhunt in history and very entertaining. The only ones who play faster and looser with the truth than politicians are Hollywood types, so it's best to look at their product simply as entertainment. I'd also crawl across broken glass for Jessica Chastain, so there's that too.

All movies take a certain amount of "poetic license" also known as "fictionalization." It's especially true in this case where many of the details are still state secrets. However, the movie was very useful, in my opinion, just because it was an attempt to actually sneak a peak at the way business was done in the matter at hand in the broad sense.

[rider]

I DO enjoy movies directed by Katheryn Bigelow.

[PKelly]

All movies take a certain amount of "poetic license" also known as "fictionalization." It's especially true in this case where many of the details are still state secrets. However, the movie was very useful, in my opinion, just because it was an attempt to actually sneak a peak at the way business was done in the matter at hand in the broad sense.

Agreed.