Quite an unusual title for a movie review post on Zero Dark Thirty. The story revolves around Maya, played by Jessica Chastain, the analyst who did all the hard work and never gave up against various odds including encountering the male ego.
Kathryn Bigelow has done a great work in highlighting that essence of Maya throughout the movie. Brilliant direction & editing keeps you hooked without getting bored in the 157 minutes of drama.
Am sure the movie will bag few Oscars, hope Jessica will get one for her role. I thought the movie would be about the planning and execution of Operation Geronimo as narrated by an Ex-Navy SEAL in his Autobiography No Easy Day. However, the movie starts with events as early as 2004 covering various incidents - London Bombing, Marriott Hotel explosion in Pakistan, New York TimeSquare plot - till the tracking & nailing of the messenger who leads to the Abbottabad safe house.
I would have liked a bit of showcase of how Navy SEALS grouped, organized & train. I guess that is off limits for an Hollywood movie maker. When I watched the hanger scene where the SEALS are introduced, I was waiting to see if they match the description - who are not your regular army soldiers, they have beards, long hair, tattoos, etc - of the men as told in the biography & they did. The casting team have done their research in fielding the actors who match the SEAL members. One of the reasons why I admire Hollywood and their movie making. Also, there isn't too much of VFX or gadgets extravaganza involved in the movie, which keeps most of the scenes real. They definitely could have done a better job for the scenes which were shot in Delhi to hide the Indian shop signage.
Overall a great movie, watch it. For the operations by SEAL team am gonna watch this one by NGC.
P.S: I wish men across the world treat women as equals and the discrimination ends.
