Robert De Niro Netflix Thriller ‘Zero Day’ Utterly Fails an Overqualified Cast: TV Review

variety.com:

Alison Herman TV Critic One of the most popular series in the history of Netflix is “The Night Agent,” a sporadically sensical conspiracy thriller set at the highest levels of federal government.

It’s thus logical, in the streaming service’s algorithmic way, to mine that vein even further with “Zero Day,” a limited series that shares wooden dialogue, incoherent politics and a dishwater palette with its wildly popular predecessor. (In tracing the aftermath of a devastating cyber attack, “Zero Day” even shares a plot, if not a focus or tone, with the Sam Esmail film “Leave the World Behind,” another Netflix hit.) There’s just one difference: Where “The Night Agent” was cast almost entirely with unknowns, apart from the inexplicable presence of a wig-wearing Hong Chau, “Zero Day” is stacked with stars — first among them executive producer Robert De Niro.

Directed by TV veteran Lesli Linka Glatter (“Love & Death”) and created by Eric Newman (“Narcos”) with journalists Noah Oppenheim and Michael S.

Schmidt, “Zero Day” has some notable figures behind the camera. (Not always in the positive sense: Oppenheim, who co-showruns with Newman, was publicly accused by Ronan Farrow of blocking his reporting on Harvey Weinstein, a claim Oppenheim denies.) But in taking on his first-ever series lead role at the age of 81, De Niro is undeniably the draw.