[Zero Dark Thirty] is one of the great cinematic procedurals ever made.

When it comes to establishing and maintaining tension, there wasn't a better American genre picture released this year. Refrain from viewing it as historical record and you won't leave disappointed.

... it is Chastain's performance, as restrained as it is powerful, that may just be the cherry atop this massive and meticulous film.

It's a procedural in both product and process and the end result is a modern history lesson that sneaks [in] an age old adage about the notion of heroism.