Today! Because if bin Laden isn’t there, you can sneak away and no one will be the wiser. But bin Laden is there. And you’re going to kill him for me –
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Starring Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, James Gandolfini (x2), Kyle Chandler (x4), Mark Strong (x2), Jennifer Ehle, Mark Duplass, Edgar Ramirez (x2), John Barrowman, Taylor Kinney, Frank Grillo, Mike Colter, Stephen Dillane, Harold Perrineau, Reda Kateb, Mark Valley
The movie most often credited with giving us the biggest movie star in the world – for a brief period, anyway – Jurassic World/Guardians of the Galaxy/The Lego Movie’s Chris Pratt, Zero Dark Thirty also introduced to a wide audience the absolutely tremendous Jason Clarke, who has gone on to have a very solid Hollywood career, even if he hasn’t played a ton of heroes in hugely successful franchises. He took a swing at it, playing John Conner in Terminator Genisys, proving all his choices weren’t going to be first rate.
But if you had been even casually watching television in the late ’00s/early ’10s, you’d have run across the still decidedly un-buff Pratt as Andy Dwyer on Parks & Recreation, while Clarke toiled away on the very solid police procedural The Chicago Code, which was the first time I saw him in anything. And then – the epic Osama bin Laden manhunt adventure Zero Dark Thirty! Unfortunately, it came along in the thunderdome of film excellence that was 2012, and so had a tough time standing out come award shows. It’s still kinda bullshit Clarke wasn’t nominated almost anywhere for his work as the interrogator/torturer here.
It’s been a while, but I remember this being really good!
Knowingly Undersold 