4 stars out of 5
Zero Dark Thirty makes Argo look like My Little Pony. The stakes are that much higher, the preparation that much longer, the tension that much greater. And you can’t help but compare the films. It’s almost like Zero Dark Thirty is a sequel where they could only get Kyle Chandler to reprise his role. (Here he plays a CIA station chief instead of Hamilton Jordan.)
So yes, we’re back in the Middle East and the CIA is once again on the case. Except, man… I’m really going to have to read up on this movie. Because how did the Argo files take 18 years to be declassified, and this was, like, a week and a half? What’s true? What’s made up? I guess a lot is true? Martha, fire up the Wikipedia, it’s going to be a long night.
Jessica Chastain stars as Maya and she is kind of awesome. Maya is “us,” the viewer, accompanying us through the action, intrigue, bureaucracy, and boys’ club of the CIA, U.S. military, and the White House, over the course of nine long years. She is us if we were doggedly determined, tough-as-nails CIA officers. And she has some kind of La Femme Nikita/Léon: The Professional/Batman backstory that the movie frustratingly only hints at. Maya is like a sexy Jack Bauer.
The Bauer comparison may seem flip but right from the get-go, when the torture of detainees starts up, I couldn’t help but flash back to 24 and the public debate of brutal interrogation methods the show engendered. (Oh, and I was also reminded of the very end of season 3, but maybe that’s just me.) This movie certainly brings the controversy back in the spotlight in a big way. Would the killing of Osama bin Laden have been possible without the information obtained via torture? Did the conflicting strategies of the Bush and Obama White Houses slow down the process? Does the end justify the means and what is our moral responsibility?
Certainly plenty of food for thought here, and the lack of “superstar” actors helps you focus on the events playing out on screen. Jason Clarke is Dan, a CIA officer who gets burned out and then tries the D.C. thing. Clarke displays a quiet strength and comes across as a workingman’s McConaughey. OZ‘s Augustus Hill is out of the wheelchair here. (OK, I guess you know him as Michael from Lost.) Hey, it’s Tony Soprano as CIA director Leon Panetta! Except he’s wearing a wig so he’s less Tony Soprano than he is in Not Fade Away. Speaking of well-regarded cable dramas, Henry Francis from Mad Men shows up too. Deep into the film, I questioned the wisdom of casting Andy from Parks & Recreation as a key Navy SEAL. I was worried that Andy’s inherent silliness would pull me out of the story, but he actually does a fine job. And it’s tough to come away without the highest regard for the skills and bravery of that elite military unit.
Kudos to director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal for crafting a riveting, extremely tense, thought-provoking film—definitely one of the year’s best. Am I going to revise my list? Nah, this was one of those cheapo limited-release-for-Oscar-consideration-before-the-new-year deals, and Silby don’t play that.
Jack Silbert, curator