War! What Is It Good For? Apparently, Extremely Compelling Films…

2. Zero Dark Thirty

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With Zero Dark Thirty, director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal set out to dramatize what really happened in the decade-long search for Osama bin Laden. Chameleon Jessica Chastain earned her second Oscar nomination as Maya, a tough-as-nails CIA agent based on the real undercover operative who doggedly pursued the Al-Qaeda leader. Zero Dark Thirty is, like the story it chronicles, a sprawling enterprise — one that earns every minute of its two-and-a-half-hour-plus running time.