You can't be a person who is hyper-hollywood PC and like this movie; and you can't be a person who expects tons of action or ons of over-hyped emotional drama and like this movie. But, if you want a dramatic yet intense story with a final 30-40 minute crescendo that is heart pounding (suspend what you thought about the killing of Bin Laden for the moment and live in the moment of the narrative) - and at the same time has a realism feel that is off the chain ... then this is a film for you. The ability to capture a narrative with both drama and intense realism, knowing that everyone knew the ending, is extremely difficult to do. Kathryn Bigelow gets the job done. I cannot imagine a single possible reason she should not have won best director (having seen the other films) let alone not been nominated, other than the political fire this film came under. Personally, I don't think it glorified or supported torture. It told the narrative of what happened. One might not like the history; and one might not like the perspectives of some of the CIA agents on the subject - but that wouldn't be telling the narrative. It would have been fraudulent in its telling. Yes, this was fictionalized. But, it still followed loosely the historical narrative and sought to be generally true to that (a kind of fictionalized history). And, Jessica Chastain - should have both won best actress, in my view, and is also total "babe city" in my book. As Dan Patrick, puts it, she's a "smoke show."
