Pro: The last time Boal was up for an Oscar -- indeed, the only time -- he won. While most people were looking to Quentin Tarantino to win for writing "Inglourious Basterds," the rest of us knew that Best Picture frontrunner "The Hurt Locker" would take it. And this time around, the research for Boal's political film reached new heights as the government is even on his tail to give up the sources he used to chart the hunt and assassination of Osama bin Laden.

Con: Is it a "writers'" movie? By which I mean, will the dazzle of the film's direction and construction overshadow what Boal may have done on the page? Films like this can have a bit of a clinical sheen to them.

- Kristopher Tapley