Best Picture: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’

I wrote the following text for the Program of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 2013: I fell in love with ZD30 at first sight in a way that was as unequivocal and driven as Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow. In her ninth theatrical feature, Bigelow reunites with “The Hurt Locker” screenwriter Mark Boal to create an uncompromising edge-of-your seat drama about the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden. And, in this most male of genres, a hybrid of espionage thriller and military action-adventure, the driving force is a pretty, petite CIA Agent. Maya (Jessica Chastain) acts tough not because she has a chip on her shoulder, or Daddy issues, but because she’s the chief crusader on a mission to eradicate Osama. It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it. And, as Maya enters one torture chamber after the next, violently extracting the intel that leads to the discovery of bin Laden’s Pakistani hiding place, she may employ another man’s muscle to beat out a confession, but she understands that she is the power behind the fist. She’s culpable. Zero Dark Thirty explores the theme of retaining humanity while doing inhuman things to prevent future mass casualties. Engrossing, complicated and urgent, ZD30 makes no apologies and takes no prisoners – except the captive audience.