R, 160 minutes

Starring- Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt, Joel Edgerton

5/ 5 Stars

          “He is one of the disappeared ones. You will never find him.” For ten years, America engaged in the largest and longest man hunt in quite possibly world history after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Osama Bin Laden became a ghost and rumors of his death, his whereabouts, his health, his movement swirled around the media until he was (SPOILER) killed in a small middle class town in Pakistan in 2011. The slaying of the most dangerous man in the world, or so Zero Dark Thirty claims, was accomplished by a CIA agent named Maya (Chastain.) The movie focuses primarily on her devotion to tirelessly tracking down and finding Bin Laden, and what a ride it is.

Let me say my only complaint about the movie, it’s a tad long. But that’s to be expected, nearly every movie that’s longer than 150 minutes can be cut down here or there. With that said, I absolutely loved this movie. The intensity that director Kathryn Bigelow brings to the screen is unbelievable. What is simply outstanding is that Bigelow is perfectly able to create the sense of uncertainty and unpredictability, even though we all know what happens at the end. Depending on how much of this is true, even though I strongly believe most of it to be fact, its mind boggling the time and energy spent to track down one man who was living comfortably right under our noses.

Chastain will certainly win the Oscar for Best Actress. She delivers an exceptionally real and likable portrayal of a CIA agent hell bent on finding this man. Maya will give up anything and everything to see the body of the terrorist. A sharp script propelled by terrific acting and directing make this film an absolute must see. Zero Dark Thirty may very well be the best picture of 2012.