I covered the aesthetic side of Zero Dark Thirty in great detail on this website earlier in the year and stand by what I wrote. I also touch on the political controversy the film has inspired there and in an essay that will run in Commentary next month, so I don't want to step on that.
The only thing I really want to add is that it's kind of a travesty that Jennifer Lawrence is going to end up beating out Jessica Chastain for best performance by an actress in a leading role. I thought for sure that this was going to be a great cap to a great year for Chastain—who excelled in Lawless and dominated the box office earlier this year with Zero Dark Thirty and Mama coming in at first and second in the same weekend—but it looks like I was wrong. Lawrence has been racking up awards left and right. Oh well.