Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writer:

Mark Boal

Stars:

Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton

Won 1 Oscar. Another 57 wins & 66 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Clarke	...	Dan
Reda Kateb	...	Ammar
Jessica Chastain	...	Maya
Kyle Chandler	...	Joseph Bradley
Jennifer Ehle	...	Jessica
Harold Perrineau	...	Jack
Jeremy Strong	...	Thomas
J.J. Kandel	...	J.J.
Wahab Sheikh	...	Detainee on Monitor
Alexander Karim	...	Detainee on Monitor
Nabil Elouahabi	...	Detainee on Monitor
Aymen Hamdouchi	...	Detainee on Monitor
Simon Abkarian	...	Detainee on Monitor
Ali Marhyar	...	Interrogator on Monitor
Parker Sawyers	...	Interrogator on Monitor

Storyline

Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.

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Plot Keywords:

al qaeda | osama bin laden | navy seal | prisoner | cia | 

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Taglines:

The greatest manhunt in history.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

11 January 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kill Bin Laden

Filming Locations:

Amman, Jordan

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$417,150 (USA) (21 December 2012)

Gross:

$95,720,716 (USA) (29 March 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, First Light Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is Jeremy Hindle 's first feature-film work as production designer. Hindle previously collaborated with Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser on numerous TV commercial shoots. Director Bigelow lauded Hindle for his remarkably precise re-creation of the huge bin Laden compound - built from scratch in the Jordanian desert - in less than three months.

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Goofs

A sign board with Shimla (hill station in India), Panchkula (near Chandigarh,India) can be seen during the secret stalking of Abu Ahmed's white SUV by the CIA.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dan: I own you, Ammar.

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Crazy Credits

The filmmakers wish to especially acknowledge the sacrifice of those men, women, and families who were most impacted by the events depicted in this film: the victims and the families of the 9/11 attacks; as well as the attacks in the United Kingdom; the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan; in Khobar, Saudi Arabia; and at the Camp Chapman Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan. We also wish to acknowledge and honor the many extraordinary military and intelligence professionals and first responders who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.54 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Pyaar Hai Tumse"
Written by Amir Jamal, Nasir Hussain, Nasir Ali Nasir
Performed by Amir Jamal
Courtesy of Kamlee Records Limited
By arrangement with The Orchard

User Reviews

Boring and poorly written

I didn't like Zero Dark Thirty for multiple reasons. For a film being about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, I expected it to be much more engaging. But it's poorly written and has uninteresting characters which makes it difficult to get involved with what's going on in the film.

Jessica Chastain did not impress me with her performance. She has a couple scenes where she breathes loudly and puts her hands on her face and another scene where she screams like a maniac. Well, I didn't get to know her character aside from the fact that she's obsessed about getting bin Laden. I didn't care for her. She lacks depth.

But I can't blame all the poor acting on just the actors. The script is to blame as well. For one, I don't think the writer knows how to correctly use the F-bomb and other variations. Multiple times it feels out of place which completely ruins a set of dialogue. There's a couple scenes where Maya introduces herself with the F-bomb in the first few sentences. Really? Everyone watch out, Maya's a badass! I normally don't have a problem with the word but in this film there's just so many situations where it's awkwardly thrown in. Aside from that, the script is also full of many other corny lines.

The pacing is poor. We get a lot of boring talk scenes with the occasional explosion/gunfire to please those with short attention spans. I also question the accuracy of this film as some of the things that happen seem a bit unrealistic. Probably the biggest problem with Zero Dark Thirty is that we know how it's going to end. I was waiting for the climax (which isn't even that thrilling) but it took forever to get there. It doesn't help when everything before threatens to put you to sleep.

The film would have been better had we a character to root for. But Maya annoyed me more than anything. Also, improvements could have been made on the awful script. So overall it's a dull film that is only moderately entertaining during the climax.