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Whether you call it well informed speculative history, docu-drama recreation or very stripped down suspense filmmaking, Zero Dark Thirty matches form and content to pretty terrific ends. A long-arc account of the search for Osama Bin Laden seen from the perspective of an almost insanely focused female CIA officer who never gives up the hunt until the prey ends up in a body bag, Kathryn Bigelow's and Mark Boal's heavily researched successor to The Hurt Locker will be tough for some viewers to take, not only for its early scenes of torture, including water boarding, but due to its denial of conventional emotionalism and non-gung ho approach to cathartic revenge-taking. Films touching on 9/11, such as United 93, World Trade Center, and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, have proven commercially toxic, and while this one has a “happy” ending, its rigorous, unsparing approach will inspire genuine enthusiasm among the serious, hardcore film crowd more than with the wider public (...)

(...) it could well be the most impressive film Bigelow has made, as well as possibly her most personal, as one keenly feels the drive of the filmmaker channeled through the intensity of Maya's character. The film's power steadily and relentlessly builds over its long course, to a point that is terrifically imposing and unshakable.

“Zero Dark Thirty,” fueled by a firestorm of criticism and five Academy Award nominations, captured the top spot at the domestic box office Sunday with $24 million in its nationwide expansion over the weekend.

It easily beat out the weekend’s two debuting movies, the horror spoof “A Haunted House," which finished second with $18.8 million, and Warner Bros.’ star-studded “Gangster Squad,” which was third with a disappointing $16.7 million.

(...) Audiences' embrace of the film -- they gave it an "A-" CinemaScore -- must be gratifying for Bigelow, who was snubbed for a Best Director Oscar nod despite the film's five nominations, including Best Picture. (...)

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