The Brockporter Film Of The Week - Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty is 2 1/2 hours of tedious drama based on "cops and robbers". Can the CIA catch the bad guy? There are scenes of torture, and many scenes of "he said she said that he said maybe". The film purports to be true and there are some elements which apparently are true like the opening scene of phone calls made on 9/11. However, the way the dots are connected leave a lot to the viewer's imagination and the major critics of this film point out that the way viewers are encouraged to connect the dots may not be true at all.

For example, did water boarding and torture produce information that lead to Osama Bin Laden's capture? There is no evidence that it did so why are all the torture scenes in the movie?

Another example is the depiction of the obsessive pursuit of information by a CIA operative, Maya, as to Bin Laden's hiding spot, and her nagging of her superiors leading to the final decision to okay the invasion of the Seal Team into Bin Laden's compound. Did this one woman really play this big a role in the situation? It adds drama to the movie, but is this how it really happened?

The movie is dark, tedious, and disconcerting to watch for 2 1/2 hours. It might be worth the pain if there was anything of value to learn from the story, but alas there is not much to take away except the understanding that evil engaged in, on all sides, is banal. Why this movie was nominated for an Academy Award is hard to say other than that it depicts and dramatizes an event in American history that is worthy of cinematic depiction. Whether it is well done or not will be left for the members of the academy to say. The movie doesn't seem to achieve what it set out to do which is tell an accurate story of the events leading up to the killing of Osama Bin Laden,  and the artistic "truth" it claims to purvey has been very controversial. I am in the group which thinks the movie failed and I don't recommend it. I did not find it enjoyable, and it informational and educational value is contested. The moral lessons conveyed seem highly questionable and are not dealt with effectively.

Editor's note: The Brockporter Film Of The Week is a regular feature of the Brockporter Online News Magazine which appears on most Fridays. If you have a film review you'd like published in the Brockporter, please email it to davidgmarkham@gmail.com. If your film review is published you will receive two free passes to the Strand movie theater in Brockport, NY.