Too Soon?
Ever since I saw the previews for this one, I was extremely skeptical. "Really?" I thought to myself, "Are they really going to make a movie about this? He died not that long ago. Let's make a film about the hanging of Saddam Hussein while we're at it, huh?" Okay, that might be a bit extreme, but at least you understand my train of thought now.
I will say one thing, Jessica Chastain did a pretty awesome job in this one. The quiet focus she displayed throughout the movie was accentuated and illuminated by her occasional emotional outbursts, which made watching the film highly enjoyable. Yes, yes, James Gandolfini is in the movie (I'm sure there are a couple Sopranos fans out there), but don't get too excited, he plays a really minor role. The other performances were forgettable.
So, how do you successfully make a movie when everyone already knows the ending? Luckily for Bigelow, he job was easy in the sense that the public never really found out the behind-the-scenes work it took to find and terminate bin Laden, and I still do not believe we have been told the whole story. However, this movie is great in that it still keeps you on the edge of your seat. Even when they are in bin Laden's compound, and you know how his ending comes along, there is a lot of interplay between the SEALs and the rest of the compound residents that give you something to think about.
The only Oscar it ended up pulling away with was Best Sound Editing, but it could have won a lot more if the rest of the field had not been so strong. The only thing preventing me from giving this movie a 9 is, you guessed it, the length! I'm a patient person, but man oh man there were a lot of fluff scenes that were not necessary.
Written April 20, 2013
I will say one thing, Jessica Chastain did a pretty awesome job in this one. The quiet focus she displayed throughout the movie was accentuated and illuminated by her occasional emotional outbursts, which made watching the film highly enjoyable. Yes, yes, James Gandolfini is in the movie (I'm sure there are a couple Sopranos fans out there), but don't get too excited, he plays a really minor role. The other performances were forgettable.
So, how do you successfully make a movie when everyone already knows the ending? Luckily for Bigelow, he job was easy in the sense that the public never really found out the behind-the-scenes work it took to find and terminate bin Laden, and I still do not believe we have been told the whole story. However, this movie is great in that it still keeps you on the edge of your seat. Even when they are in bin Laden's compound, and you know how his ending comes along, there is a lot of interplay between the SEALs and the rest of the compound residents that give you something to think about.
The only Oscar it ended up pulling away with was Best Sound Editing, but it could have won a lot more if the rest of the field had not been so strong. The only thing preventing me from giving this movie a 9 is, you guessed it, the length! I'm a patient person, but man oh man there were a lot of fluff scenes that were not necessary.
Written April 20, 2013