Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Altogether, a pretty terrible poster.

Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow (I really enjoyed Strange Days but The Hurt Locker is easily her best film)

Written by: Mark Boal (also wrote Hurt Locker which makes me think I should check out In the Valley of Ellah)

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Lauren Shaw, Édgar Ramírez, Mark Duplass, John Barrowman, Frank Grillo, Mark Strong, Chris Pratt, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle and Harold Perrineau.

What it’s about: based on actual events, the hunting down of Osama Bin Laden

B-Movie Alternate Title: America’s REVENGE

Movie Mash Up: The Hurt Locker – any interesting characters

What I liked: It was technically well-made, featuring a few great actors in decent performances.

What I disliked: It’s a pretty goddamned boring movie, and I’m a fairly forgiving movie-watcher.  I can explain away slowness and tedium as “pacing” but I cannot make that statement for this film.  Unlike Hurt Locker, there is nothing – no character, no potential action scene – that makes you want to keep watching, other than the ending, which we already know anyways.  I guess Jessica Chastain acted alright in this movie, but there was nothing in her performance that really suggested to me that it was a performance for the ages, which really, all Best Actress Oscar nominations should be.  For the most part, it just seemed like a technically well-made movie without any heart to it.  That and (I love the guy, don’t get me wrong) Chris Pratt’s goofy character really just turned the movie from what should have been something epic into basically a documentary.

Would I recommend it to anyone?: Nope.  It’s pretty boring, and since we all know how it ends anyways, there is little payoff to actually watching it all the way through.

Rating: 3.5 /5

Best Picture Nominations Rankings (so far): 1. Silver Linings Playbook 2. Django Unchained 3. Argo 4. Zero Dark Thirty

How I felt while watching most of the movie.