Exactly how much access did Kathryn Bigelow have to CIAs files on the hunt for Osama bin Laden? What is so damn grand, in scope, about this film is the seeming authority Bigelow exacts on the historical events ever since 9/11.
Before she dives into the process, a scene of solely audio penetrates the audience with calls on that fateful date that precipitated the war on terror. What follows is a brutally honest document of one woman’s crusade to finish the War on Terror.
But is it truly over; when the head honcho is carried away by the end of the film, like a hydra a new head would find its way out of the hole in the East. And plenty of Al Qaeda serious contenders haven’t seen the light of day, but this film acts like a streamlined documentary of one agent, a woman, at that, to add insult to injury to fundamentalists. She is nearly killed on several occasions, but nothing takes her out of the game.
War buffs and feminists can join hands at the portrayal of this tale of a lonely CIA operative, committed to work through what is something of an obsession. In the hunt for one Bin Laden attendant the agency finds its way, almost accidently, to the big kahuna himself. And without bravado, the operative returns home, her mission complete, her obsession satiated.
