“We don’t know what we don’t know”
“What the f*ck does that mean?”
(Take that, Mr Rumsfeld)

Gripping yarn of CIA agent ‘Maya’ and her single-minded 12-year quest to hunt down Bin Laden. However, it will likely forfeit Best Picture at the Oscars due to the controversy around its alleged support for torture, e.g. the film doesn’t show all the false leads generated that wasted the CIA’s time. It does provide fascinating insight into how an intelligence officer operates, though on this count the movie has been criticized by CIA agents for over-egging the indiivdual hunches and contributions of ‘Maya’ (and underplaying teamwork and the reams of boring desk analysis).

The climactic raid on the compound was up there with Hurt Locker’s action sequences. Though I couldn’t help but get the sense that I was watching an Ocean’s 11 heist on a mark’s mansion, except with lethal force and without George Clooney’s smirks and wisecracks. Has the US military been reduced to common thievery and assassination, though with the best equipment and training money can buy?

A couple of scenes could have benefited from tighter direction and editing (e.g. the bombing on the base), but in the end it’s a complex, pollitically ambiguous, and well executed if fictionalized film. Certainly worth the price of admission.