The Brink (2015)

The dialogue is smart, biting and sporadically funny as it convincingly argues that its strange fiction is truth and turns the wartime stuff of our nightmares into the blackest of comedy.

The Brink is whip-smart, featuring actors who know how to play comedy. This one’s a joy to watch.

An explosively funny satirical descendant that can hit home without being even slightly preachy about it. Mostly, though, have fun with both the madcap characters and the notion that one of the Pakistani demands in play is a full membership with the Augusta National Golf Club.

The manic Brink can be exhausting and overbroad, but it also has moments that are acutely, if childishly, funny.

It's a solid effort, but after three episodes, I'm not convinced that puncturing a carefully crafted image brings us closer to knowing the actual women behind the men.

Consistently entertaining, if not hysterical, and plotted with care, so that three distinct story lines dovetail nicely.

There’s smart plotting at work, and keen observational skills when it comes to showing who’s truly in power, but it takes a squishy stance on the issues at hand, a “nuclear warfare bad” perspective that makes for agreeable comedy but ineffectual satire.

Much of it works very well because of the casting and, to some extent, character direction. The pacing is a bit flaccid here and there, but most of the jokes are worth waiting an extra beat for.