I had great hope for Zero Dark Thirty. The Best Picture Academy Award-winning The Hurt Locker was as brilliant as its director, Kathryn Bigelow (one of few well-known female directors) who chooses to confront difficult issues in her work. There were many harsh truths in The Hurt Locker, like how war is comparable to a drug, and Jeremy Renner gave an underrated, masterful performance.
Zero Dark Thirty is smart and taut but it is not as compelling as its predecessor. Jessica Chastain plays Maya, a CIA operative, who has dedicated her young life to finding Osama bin Laden. We follow Maya as years pass, filled with frustration, obstacles, and danger.
We may know the ending but that doesn't stop Zero Dark Thirty from being suspenseful. It is interesting that the film has been deemed controversial for its portrayal of torture. Some critics have said that it promotes torture. The movie in no way promotes torture. It sheds light on the fact that unfortunately these tactics are used for coercion. These scenes are hard to watch, however, and the way the film starts.
Jessica Chastain gives an excellent performance, one that is generally not reserved for women. She plays a woman who must not show emotion but who lives in a world of extreme stress, who is working in an old boys' club and must feel so alone without family or friends. Chastain portrays all of this and more with a character who has been trained to have a steel core. Two stand-out scenes are when Maya gets into a heated argument with her superior (played by Kyle Chandler) and when Maya finally breaks down in an airplane after realizing she's not sure what's left. People like Maya are enigmas. They are rare and hard to understand, but not hard to empathize with because of all the sacrifices they make that many of us (including this writer) couldn't.
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