This is a gripping account of the 10 year hunt for Osama Bin
Laden which ended in Pakistan. All of the tedium and stress involved in hunting
down the mastermind of 9/11 comes through in this film. The tension is high and
the stakes astronomical as the hunt goes forward, first by water boarding and
torture, until each link in the chain has been unmasked, leading to Bin Laden
himself.
As a matter of fact, after all of the tension involved in a
decade of locating him, it is almost anti-climactic when he is discovered and
killed. The myriad of secret retention facilities located around the world for
use by our CIA is staggering. The amount of money spent in fighting both the
war in Iraq and later in Afghanistan is simply mind boggling.
But more than any one thing which stands out in this film is
the toll the hunt for Bin Laden took upon us, his enemies, both societally and
emotionally. We were forced to face ourselves as well as the enemy, and we
became almost as vicious and ruthless in our pursuit of this one man. It reeks
of Ahab and Moby Dick, where the question is always whether good triumphs over
evil, or simply becomes a victim itself.
If you have not seen this film it will astound you. Based
upon true accounts the story highlights one woman’s belief in herself and the
intelligence she was analyzing in the effort to find Bin Laden. Faced with the
doubt of her senior analysts at the CIA’s Langley headquarters, she pushes on,
losing something of herself in the hunt to bring down the world’s most wanted
man. A must see film for many reasons.
Fantastic performances by Jessica Chastain and Jason Clarke;
along with tight direction and swift camera shifts; it is no wonder that this
film garnered 5 Academy Award Nominations. It is simply that good.
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