Zero Day

The series starts well but loses its pace soon after in the name of investigation. The audience keeps wondering when the actual investigation would take place, as it focuses on everything from personal demons to surrounding pressures except the core investigation. It takes until Episode 5 (out of 6 episodes) for the series to truly get going, and the last two episodes are undoubtedly the best of this series.

Robert De Niro excels, and I think there's no doubt about his acting prowess. However, I feel a powerful actor like Angela Bassett was underutilized, and somehow her performance isn't up to the mark, possibly due to a sub-par script and weak dialogues.

Overall, it's a slow, uneventful series that has a very interesting and engaging plot on paper, but the makers fail to capitalize on it. It only truly excels because of the powerful acting and the strength of its final two episodes.

It was an enjoyable show, though the pacing lagged somewhat in the middle. However, the final episodes were engaging and held my attention much more. The series featured a well-regarded cast, good performances, and a storyline that felt plausible and important. As with most films and shows, there were moments that required some suspension of disbelief, so it wasn't flawless-but then again, what is these days? Ultimately, it delivered on its primary purpose: entertainment.

Rather than relying solely on others' opinions, I encourage you to watch it yourself. With only six episodes, it's a worthwhile experience, and you may find your own perspective on it.

First, there is a lot of angst right off the bat about how much power to hand an investigative commission, when it seems the attack only just occurred. You would think that the FBI would have more time to investigate, and you'd only award extraordinary powers once they hit a wall. Next, presidents are polarizing figures regardless of how supposedly beloved one might be, so why not select a trusted nonpartisan figure (who is not a befuddled septuagenarian) to lead an IT investigation? So you get past that, and the acting is pretty good. Angela Bassett does not compare well in scenes with DeNiro, but who does? Lizzy Caplan is a one-note tune so she doesn't do so well either. It's just not a compelling series although the pacing is ok. It is a decent series although every single actor involved has had much better scripts to work with.

The main premise of this show is that of the review title.

It's an engaging thriller that makes some intriguing points and by all means, does it well. It peaks your interest and it does it through top acting and reasonably good cinematography.

But what it isn't is anything more. Potential strong plot points are either undone by sloppy plot holes or lack of clarity come the end. Multiple moments that felt like they were building towards a great climax also frequently petered out into mediocrity.

Overall the series was done well. A great cast performance mixed with reasonably good writing, storytelling and cinematography produces what we have here in Zero Day.

It's nice, but I wouldn't say it's more than that.

7/10.

...and that's the long and short of it. No, it isn't a 10, and but it certainly isn't a 1/10.

There's nothing stand out about the plot, and no edge of the seat moments. As others have said, the confusion that de Niro's character suffers from is hammy, clumsy, overdone and overly-repeated... and it adds nothing to the plot. It's just an annoyance to watch.

Plemmons is ok - not one of his better roles but his portrayal is fine. As is De Niro, just fine in his role but nothing special - sometimes even a little one dimensional (though the script may be to blame for that).

Angela Bassett is woeful though, unbelievable as a sitting president. Again that may be down to the script - her character trying to push urgency with no real necessity behind it. "I'm holding a press conference in 2 days so you need results by then" is the same line used in 70's police series/ films, where the Captain shouts "You've got 48 hours or it's your badge".

It was watchable, but I managed to follow the whole thing while working at home.

Just a bit average really.