STAFF TRAINING DAY: ZERO DARK THIRTY

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal’s highly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed, game-changing Best Picture winner THE HURT LOCKER is nothing short of a masterpiece.

The film focuses on the extensive, painstaking 10-year manhunt and eventual killing of Osama bin Laden at the hands of SEAL Team Six. While the eventual end of the infamous terrorist leader will not be a surprise Bigelow and Boal tackle their subject in unpredictable, complicated and interesting ways. The product is a film that delivers on all fronts.

Added to that the large cast, headed by Jessica Chastain in a career-defining performance, Jason Clarke and Joel Edgerton, is impressive and brilliant.

With ZERO DARK THIRTY Bigelow and Boal create a relevant and flawless military thriller for our time. (R.J. LaForce)

"An example of cinematic storytelling at its most effective." -Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"Ms. Bigelow’s direction here is unexpectedly stunning, bold and intimate." -Mahola Dargis, The New York Times

"Bigelow’s style is terse and assured. She allows virtually all the characters their moments of reason or sympathy...Hollywood’s ballsiest director." -Richard Corliss, TIME