Should I Check This Out - Zero Dark Thirty

A million miles away from the world of Johnny Utah in Point Break, Kathryn Bigelow has certainly proved her diversity as a director as she tackles topical matters in The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty.

Winning six oscars for her depiction of a string of events that occur around the life of a maverick bomb expert, her next project was to be based around the unsuccessful attempts to find Osama Bin Laden. However, screenwriter Mark Boal was soon faced with completely rewriting the script when Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. Released a year after the final events of the film, we now have Zero Dark Thirty, starting in 2001 with 9/11, the film follows young CIA officer Maya, played by Jessica Chastain, as she endures a seemingly endless hunt that absorbs her life for nearly a decade.

And with a running-time of over two hours, the hunt seems likes a endless grind for our protagonist as leads come up dry and friends are lost. But Bigelow handles the subject matter with superb care and attention to detail. Without a doubt, this is a controversial film and it was meant with that response upon release. The first half hour will certainly take audiences out of their comfort zone as it places us into a world where torturing leads until they 'break' is routine. The same discomfort as a viewer is shared with Maya, but soon she finds herself having to take control and force information out of suspects, and Chastain is fantastic as we see her adapt to the requirements of her job, even though it is clearly wearing her away inside. Yet she remains strong and it's fascinating to see how Bigelow and Chastain create such an engaging character, despite knowing very little about her outside of work.

Where I personally found The Hurt Locker to feel a little disjointed at times between scenes, here, Bigelow pulls off a very large and complex story filled with multiple characters, but manages to ensure the film never looses those great moments of edge-of-your-seat tension and sense of atmosphere that places you in the action, which made the later such a success. Almost the final half-hour is spent with Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 on that night, and it is nerve shredding. We know how it ends, but Bigelow crafts the event perfectly, owing much to her brilliant editors; William Goldberg and Dylan Tichenor, and cinematographer, Greig Fraser.

Amongst the background, there is a wealth of talent to found with the supporting cast. There are too many to name but stand-outs include Jason Clarke as the interrogator. For what could have been a simple minor role, Clarke delivers depth and charisma in a performance within a performance when faced with men who he tortures for information. Other notable cast members include Mark Strong on fine form as a man caught between the politics of the White House and Maya's determination, Kyle Chandler, Joel Edgerton and the late, great James Gandolfini. Other actors with smaller roles who you may recognise but not know the name of are also fantastic and contribute to creating a great ensemble cast.

You may only chose to watch it once, but Bigelow delivers a fine film that is well worth watching. While long, the story never drags at any moment and ends just at the right moment. Initially, I wished the film had lasted ten more minutes just so we could see what happened next for the characters we had spent so much time with, but to do so might lose something. As it stands, Zero Dark Thirty has the direction, the story and the performances to get my full recommendation. It's certainly not for the faint of heart, but it is an experience worth seeing.