'Zero Dark Thirty's' Director Doing Damage Control, Oscar Chances Fading

Just because “Zero Dark Thirty” picked up another critics group award today doesn’t mean the film’s Best Picture Oscar chances aren’t in jeopardy.

Film scribes are noticing the film’s implicit acknowledgement that enhanced interrogation techniques like sleep deprivation and waterboarding helped collar Osama bin Laden, and they aren’t happy.

It’s likely why the film’s director, Kathryn Bigelow, and screenwriter, Mark Boal, gave an exclusive interview to TheWrap.com today for some media damage control. The question remains – will it work?

The filmmakers behind “Zero Dark Thirty” labeled as “preposterous” the idea that their dark, intense portrayal of the killing of Osama Bin Laden was an argument for torture, in a wide-ranging interview with TheWrap responding to criticisms being leveled at their film, which opens on Wednesday.

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter-producer Mark Boal said the criticisms amounted to people misreading the film.

The article is written from a clearly left-of-center viewpoint, labeling “torture” interrogation tactics like waterboarding that actors and writers have undergone in recent years without much fanfare. 

This conversation, should Bigelow and Boal effectively address the Left’s concerns about the film’s narrative, could salvage its Oscar chances. In a tight race, though, such discussions will only hurt it come voting time.