This is one of these stories in which we know the beginning and the end, but the decade that passes in between which sees ‘history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man’ is still a helluva shocker. The opening scene of the movie is a totally black screen with excepts of the last telephone conversations being played from some of the people made from the Twin Towers just after they had been hit, and it sets a sober harrowing tone for the drama that unfolds in the next 150 minutes.
The CIA are working on precious few leads to track down Osama Bin Laden and are relying on extracting information from captured Taliban who are being held in secret US military locations around the Globe. The lead Agent Dan who skillfully uses sheer brute force and extreme mental cruelty is joined by Maya a fresh new Agent who thinks outside of the box and uses sheer logic, pain-staking research and her finely tuned instincts to get the most minutest of clues that may possibly give them a real lead. The main struggle in the story in fact is not about fighting the enemy, but Maya up against the CIA male establishment who are entrenched in their practices and methods even though in this instance they are getting them absolutely nowhere.
When Maya eventually persuades the people with the President’s ear, that she is 95% certain that she has located the exact hideout of Bin Laden in Pakistan, and the covert mission to seek and kill him is green-lighted we are still perched on the edge of our seats quite terrified, even though we know they will definitely get their man.
And the 2nd element that I give my complete admiration too, is Jessica Chastain’s performance as Maya. It is breathtakingly wonderful. As I was thinking of how best to convey how magnificent she truly makes this whole movie her own, I read that she had been hailed as the next Meryl Streep. Praise doesn’t come higher than that. And like Ms Streep, Ms Chastain has just won the Golden Globe, and trust me, the Best Actress Oscar this year is unquestionably hers.
Totally totally unmissable.
Available on Amazon
★★★★★★★★★★
Labels: dramatized reallife, thriller, war
