Zero Dark Thirty

Quick synopsis:
The story of how the CIA hunted down Bin Laden.
Starts with recordings of 9-11 911 calls, the filling contains lots of questioning and some torture and it ends with a beardy guy who is allegedly Bin Laden being shot dead. What's that you say? Spoiler? Oh come on, we all knew how this movie was going to end!

Verdict: This was actually a pretty decent movie. I wasn't sure I'd like it, given the nature of the content - I mean how on earth would someone make searching for Bin Laden seem entertaining? I thought it would've gone something like:
Soldier A: In this cave?
Soldier B: *looks inside* No, no there's nobody here.
Soldier A: Ok, let's move on to the next one. How about this one?
Soldier B: *looks inside* Naw, just some goats, man.
This would carry on for about 2 hours of movie time until
Soldier A: This one?
Soldier B: *looks inside* Nope, just some....wait a minute! There's a bearded man in there! Shoot to kill! Shoot to kill!
*sounds of gunfire*
Soldier B: Oh man! It's not him, man. We've killed Gandalf!
 
Just as well I'm not a scriptwriter, eh?
Anyway, as I was saying, I didn't have high expectations, but I found myself being drawn in by this film, perhaps by its allusions to reality and I had to wonder how much of this film was fiction. The last 30 minutes focusing on the raid felt gritty and real, and I have to touch on the minor character of Hakim here, who is visibly affected by the death of the people in the house, even though he is on the "other side". He seems to be the only person with a conscience and who seems to register that people's lives have been taken without a second thought. I can't imagine what it must feel like to know that you have been a part of this attack on a household where parents are killed in front of their children. I like the fact that Bigelow has touched on this conflict and shown that things are not black and white and that the so-called protagonists are not always right. Rating: 8/10