I saw the film Saturday night and was underwhelmed. Like Coll, I had trouble looking past how the narrative was constructed. The relationship of the characters and the events is just so Hollywood-ish. For instance, the Camp Chapman bombing is chalked up to Jennifer Ehle's character's girlish giddiness to make a scoop that she hopes will get the President's ear. It is typical for the film, in which most of the successes and failures are individual rather than institutional.

The movie wasn't all bad. Edgar Ramirez is great is always, and there are a few good one-liners peppered throughout the script. ("What do you think about Pakistan so far?" "I think it's pretty f*cked up.")