The Report Movie Review
Do you remember all of the controversy over Zero Dark Thirty’s depiction of torture? Let me just say that The Report’s depictions of torture are like ZDT 5.0. If you cannot stomach torture scenes I suggest you opt out of this one. I like to put my disclaimers at the beginning so you don’t waste your time reading about a movie you most likely won’t want to see.
That being said, The Report is a political thriller that is based on a true story. Daniel Jones (Adam Driver) is tasked by Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Benning) to get to the bottom of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program. The now controversial program was created in the aftermath of September 11. Jones’ tenacity leads him to uncover some alarming truths about the CIA’s attempts to hide evidence as well as sidestep the law.
Jones resides with a small team in a windowless office as they sift through more than 6 million documents trying to piece together the events in chronological order. Of course, not everyone appreciates the work Jones and his team are doing and there are attempts to silence him.
The movie would be rather boring if it just focused on Jones huddled over a computer as he reviewed documents. Writer and director Scott Z. Burns is able to avoid the mundane by sprinkling in flashbacks that involve the intelligence psychologists Bruce Jessen (T. Ryder Smith) and James Elmer Mitchell (Douglas Hodge) who crafted the new and improved torture methods. The main method Burns chooses to focus on is waterboarding. There is a lot of waterboarding in The Report and I will readily admit, it was very hard to watch.
Ultimately Jones and Feinstein must fight tooth and nail to have his findings see the light of day. Benning is very believable as Senator Feinstein. She and Driver have great chemistry. It helps that their characters both fundamentally want the same thing: the truth. Driver was impressive as Jones, but presumably this performance was overshadowed by his tour de force in Marriage Story, which came out the same year. In fact, The Report got snubbed by pretty much every awards show besides the Golden Globes. This is a divisive movie about a hot and controversial topic which may be the reason for the lack of nominations. Despite having the potential to be a snooze fest, Burns keeps the intensity and pace up throughout the one hour and fifty-nine minute run time. Driver’s performance helps with this as he provides a laser focus on the mission of uncovering the truth. The Report hums with energy from the beginning to the end and if you’re a stickler for justice and truth, you’ll be engaged the whole movie.
Film or Movie: Movie
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like intense, political thrillers
2. You don’t mind torture scenes,
3. You like American history particularly of the 2000’s
