Conservatives shouldn’t feel paranoid for expecting “Zero Dark Thirty” to be an infomercial for President Barack Obama’s one unabashed triumph – the death of Osama bin Laden.
The film’s initial release date, roughly a month before Election Day, merely heightened those fears. Hollywood routinely bends over backwards to include progressive messages within its films, be they war movies or soft and cuddly kid films.
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“Thirty,” finally in wide release following a limited awards season launch, proves to be anything but an ideological cudgel. You don’t need to squint to find political nuggets, from a scene describing Obama as a “thoughtful, analytical guy” to a line decrying President George W. Bush’s claims over weapons of mass destruction.
Yet a CIA character bemoans how the information spigot ran dry after Obama halted the use of enhanced interrogation tactics, a sequence sure to rile up the president’s apologists.
Such moments are fleeting and hardly typify the tone or purpose. Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal have made a smart, methodical film, thoroughly sober in its tactics and restraint. No rah-rah moments, movie star quips or scenes meant to inspire cheers from packed theaters.
