'Zero Dark Thirty' An Intense and Gripping Thriller (Exclusive)

*** This Examiner review for 'Zero Dark Thirty' is something I worked on for the paper in January 2013 ***

In the Sony Pictures controversial presentation of "Zero Dark Thirty," Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is to help interrogate prisoners after the 9/11 attacks. After a few years, Maya has moved up the ranks and now is looking to find and capture one of the most dangerous targets - Osama bin Laden. For years, there has been numerous failed attempts at finding or capturing the Al-Qaeda leader mainly due to a lot of mis-communication. Now, she has credible evidence of where bin Laden could be, which could bring the end to the most massive manhunt in history.

"Zero Dark Thirty" is a riveting military thriller that keeps the audience glued to the screen from the very start to the heart-pounding conclusion. The film features alot of intense sequences and a couple of torture scenes that can be a little hard to watch. Jessica Chastain's performance as the CIA operative who finds bin Laden's location is incredible and absolutely award-worthy. The final half-hour of the film, which shows the infamous raid, is heart-pounding excitement and great film-making. Even though a couple of scenes can be hard to watch for some, "Zero Dark Thirty" is extremely recommended and should be seen before it leaves the theater.

Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain stars as Maya, the CIA operative. This past summer, Chastain co-starred in the Prohibition drama "Lawless." Chastain has also earned a Best Actress Golden Globe and Oscar nomination for her talked-about performance. Up-and-coming actor Jason Clarke plays Dan, who helps Maya with some of the interrogations. Clarke can also be seen in "Public Enemies," "Death Race" and "Lawless."

Other cast members include: Joel Edgerton (The Odd Life of Timothy Green; The Thing) as Patrick, a Squadron leader, Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; John Carter) as George, Jennifer Ehle (The Ides of March; Contagion) as Jessica, Kyle Chandler (Super 8) as Joseph Bradley, Chris Pratt (The Five-Year Engagement) as Justin, one of the Navy SEALs in the raid, Harold Perrineau (Lost) as Jack, Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2) as John and James Gandolfini (Killing Them Softly) as the CIA Director. "Zero Dark Thirty" is co-produced and directed by award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, the director of Best Picture winner "The Hurt Locker."

Originally, the script that "Hurt Locker" screenwriter Mark Boal had written centered on the December 2001 Battle of Tora Bora, where bin Laden was once believed to be hiding. Once news broke that the terrorist leader had been killed May of 2011, Boal and Bigelow scrapped their original plans and quickly put together a new script.

Throughout the course of its production, "Thirty" was plagued with lots of political controversy. When the release date was first set for an October 2012 release, political parties thought it was due to the upcoming November elections. Sony denied this and stated that the original release date was chosen because it was the perfect spot for an action-thriller. Controversy escalated when the Senate claimed that the filmmakers got a hold of some classified information during the development stage of the film.

"Zero Dark Thirty" was met with wide acclaim from film critics everywhere. It was also nominated for numerous Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.

"Zero Dark Thirty" is rated R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language and has a running time of 157 minutes.

https://youtu.be/k7R2uVZYebE