Operation Neptune Spear

On Friday night I went to see the film I have been eagerly anticipating since it finished production months ago. Zero Dark Thirty. Becky, Nathan, his sister Laura and her flatmate and I arrived at a very busy Cameo for the 8 pm showing of the film based on one of 'America's greatest achievements'. The decade- long hunt and eventual assassination of one of the worlds most feared terrorists. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. An amazing cast, led by the beautiful Jessica Chastain, detailed the hard work and pressure the American government and counter terrorism teams faced in the aftermath of 9/11. Within minutes I was totally engulfed in the action on screen and soon forgot I was in a cinema full of people. The film started with a dark screen as audio of 911 calls from September 11th 2001 boomed through the speakers which seemed to surround and trap the audience. This really set the tone for a very dramatic and painful film. The silence during certain scenes was palpable as the audience waited cautiously for something else to go wrong. 

Despite reading a rather compelling article written by a real CIA analyst somewhat slating the movie, I still felt like it was a brilliant piece of work that deserves the recognition it has received. Miss Chastain was not originally up for the role of strong and ambitious Maya. Rooney Mara had the role but had to drop out which was a decision that I think has benefited and contributed to the success of the film. I have no problem with Mara but that was simply not her role. Another interesting fact that I came across was that the screenplay was actually finished before OBL was killed and was initially supposed to be a film about the unsuccessful hunt for the notorious terrorist but was rewritten after the fact. Despite being three hours long the length felt totally appropriate in relation to the subject matter, I only wish I knew how long it was before hand so I could mentally prepare myself to sit still for that amount of time.



Another surprise was the completely unnecessary appearance of John Barrowman. Anyone outside of Scotland and the UK may not understand the hilarity of his presence in such a profoundly deep film. He regularly appears in pantomime and is most famous for starring in B list movies and a Doctor Who spin off series. He also has his own, extremely camp, Saturday night television show where he starts and ends the show singing and dancing. But Barrowman aside, the film was ground breaking. And yes there are factual inaccuracies and it may give the general public an incorrect impression of national security, however, it does do one key thing right. It entertains in a thought provoking manner. Since Friday night I have read dozens of articles detailing Operation Neptune Spear and the events that led up to it. 

I have been watching documentaries and films surrounding men and women who work for intelligence agencies in an attempt to better understand their efforts to protect their own individual countries and the world as a whole. Because even though the killing of OBL has been dubbed as 'America's greatest achievement', the USA was not alone in celebrating. Agents and the general population from around the world rejoiced at the knowledge of being that little bit safer. Obviously we are never far from danger but by eliminating such an influential player from that world, we begin a new narrative that could have a drastically different level of terrorist presence. To get back to my point, this film is a stepping stone for people to explore in greater detail the activities and events that lead to such monumental moments in history. And I for one thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the film... even John Barrowman. The added bonus is of course that this is another Oscar nominated film that I can tick off my list! Meaning that I only have 5 more (in the Best Picture category) to watch before this years ceremony. I look forward to another month full of great films and outstanding performances.