The Report

'The Report' couldn't get made at a better time. With everything happening in today's American and global political climate, it shows how little the general public actually is allowed to know about whatever happens within the borders of their government buildings. An entire country is at stake when secrets come out, that shouldn't have been secrets in the first place when laws get executed correctly.

Idealistic Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver), gets tasked by his boss, Senator of California Diane Feinstein (Annette Bening), to lead an investigation into the CIA's post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program. Jones' relentless pursuit of the truth leads to findings that uncover the lengths to which the nation's top intelligence agency went to destroy evidence, subvert the law, and hide a shocking secret from the American public.

Scott Z. Burns hasn't directed a feature length film since 2006's 'Pu-239'. Having previously written films such as, 'The Laundromat', 'Side Effects' and 'Contagion', it seems he has a very good work relationship with this films' producer Steven Soderbergh (director of last named films). With 'The Report' he knows what he's going for and doesn't hold back on any occasion. The story goes off like a missile, and only slows down when hitting its target at the finish line. That might be a challenge for some viewers, but the suspense throughout the second and third act is rare and delivers what political polymaths are looking for. To those who aren't particularly interested in politics and cover-ups, this might be a tough one to sit through.

Adam Driver, is truly on a roll these last couple of years. With two more films on the horizon in the last two months of 2019 ('Marriage Story' and 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'), it seems there's no stopping him in becoming one of the most talented actors of this generation. He shows just how focused and career driven he is as his character Daniel J. Jones. He's unsurpassed and will definitely get recognition for his hard work coming awards season.

What plays like a political 'Social Network', could've benefited from a rewrite by Aaron Sorkin, just to streamline it a bit more. The dialogues are heavy and littered with dark humour, but without any real character development, it misses the opportunity to make the audience connect with anyone on a deeper level. You never get to look behind the suits into their homes. The mental struggles of being accused of whistleblowing and torturing people, must take its toll on politicians and CIA-agents, no? We get little hints at their personal lives when being interrogated by government officials, but this is all just small talk. It does go without saying, Greg O'Bryant deserves much praise for editing this film. I wonder how long the rough cut must've been.

There's a wide range of well known actors passing by as fundamental characters in the big scheme of things. Annette Bening, brilliant actor taking on the full look and characteristics of Senator Feinstein, doesn't have many explosive scenes to wow, but is subtly captivating. Corey Stoll, Jon Hamm, Maura Tierney and Michael C. Hall all have important parts to keep things moving, but with the little amount of screen time fail to impress with anything more than acceptable.

Burns' 'The Report' is an important watch, delivering facts in a striking manner. It's worth watching for Driver's performance alone, observing a man who loves doing his job and excels at it. A history lesson in American politics and terrorism with a little dig at propaganda filmmaking and journalism, and a big spotlight on the CIA's misconduct.

The quality of the actors should tell you this is a worthy story to be told. So concentrate it's a complicated tale that spans years and crosses party lines. Diane Feinstein puts a tenacious man in charge of looking into torture by the CIA. There is a lot to learn about torture. The movie shows both sides with this povs. The justifiers want to prevent another attack and save lives. The critics say in the majority of times it doesn't work, they only get info they already know and sometimes they get the wrong guy. Their aren't many movies telling how a government agency does bad things. This is one of the few. Adam Driver gives a convincing performance - outraged when he needs to be but not overacted. Annette Bening plays Feinstein. A host of familiar faces add credibility to supporting roles. This movie keeps a complex issue clear and highlights the opposition to the report from both political parties. A brave movie.

Scott Z. Burns has managed to create a contained, focused and relevant drama on important and true events. The movie is just as dedicated and willful as its main hero Daniel J. Jones, portrayed effectively by Adam Driver. Some will find it dry, some will rate it based on their political agendas, some will bash Adam Driver (for reasons I have never understood), but I think, while not without flaws, "The Report" is an admirable effort.

I'm thousands of miles away from the land of America, but I was at least vaguely familiar with the facts and happenings "The Report" is based on, the larger canvas was clear to me. "The Report" is not a spectacle, it's not overly dramatic, but moves at an even pace, offers constant flow of plot development instead of boredom - these are also the reasons why some may describe the movie as dry, promising a delivery that never comes - I get that, but I also disagree. Another satisfying aspect is the more than stellar cast, even most of the really small roles are filled by talented and known faces. Adam Driver has never failed me before, also not this time & I don't know wether the hate for him is a meme or just another dismissible and disrespectable creation by our ever degrading virtual society. I was slightly disappointed about Jon Hamm, whose face on the poster turned out to be more of a marketing device, as his total screen time amounted to around 10 minutes, maybe. I love me some Jon Hamm. All jokes aside, "The Report" might not be an exceptional, but definitely is a great effort on every level of filmmaking - acting, writing and directing included. If we talks visuals, the cinematography and aesthetical mood does nothing but adds to the overall tone and cinematic flow.

"The Report" is easy to disappear in, it's an engaging re-telling of a morally messed up events & through a convincing performance by Adam Driver we are able to identify with the subject in question. As far as political and true-events-based dramas go, "The Report" is a remarkable piece. My rating: 8/10.

It tells an engaging and disturbing story of someone who is willing to go after giants, even though the chances of winning are slim. Thank you for choosing what is right, but not what's easy.

The Report is based on a real Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into EIT, or enhanced interrogation techniques - a phrase we all know and one that is kindly considered the work of a marketing department on how best to sell torture given that people (and lawyers) generally have a problem with torture. It is unsurprisingly fairly blunt on the approach taken and how wrong it was. This approach makes it an important and worthy film, but also makes it a slightly lesser one.

By being so obviously outraged the film plays to the choir a bit too much (a choir that contains me, if it matters). This translates into a directness and obviousness that feels a bit too simplistic and by the numbers; this is not me suggesting that it needed to make excuses for those involved, however it could have been more nuanced with the journey and had the confidence that at the end of it the viewer would still recognise how wrong this was. In not doing this, the film is still interesting, but it feels lacking in conversation and world building, instead very much making its point. Of course for me I agree with the point, so I went with the film, but it is very on-the-nose with what it does and how it structures it. In terms of delivery though, it does do well to make the writing of a report and reading of documents to be dramatic. The cuts in time work well to put meat on the bones and helps to mix the political, ethical, and real life aspects of it

The cast is impressive in name and performance. Driver does the heavy lifting, but there is plenty of solid support from Hamm, Bening, Hall, Nelson, Levine, and others. Production values are solid throughout, and are part of it feeling like a serious, important film. It stands as such, and is a good dramatic read on a shameful period of recent history that is already mostly forgotten as it gets eclipsed by other shameful moments, and goes unmarked by the lack of consequences for those behind it. It is more important than engaging though, and could have been a stronger film for embracing the complexity more than it did.