Calibrated with rare edge-of-your-seat pragmatism, Scott Z. Burns’ must-see procedural The Report diligently abides by the logical proposition that no end justifies premeditated immoral means as it scrutinizes how the CIA succumbed to post-9/11 paranoia and authorized sadistic abuses in the name of freedom.
Guided by the fierce, fully committed performances of Driver and Bening,The Report is a bristling reminder that truth still matters. Naïve? Maybe. But, damn, do we need it now.
The actor’s (Driver) performance isn’t just gripping; it’s inspiring. He’s not just portraying Jones; he’s embodying an ideal.
An urgent rebuke to a country losing its conscience, The Report is rigorous but riveting. And Adam Driver — once again — emerges as one of the most watchable actors working today.
The Report has just enough humor and absurdity and Adam Driver to cut through its justified righteous indignation. It doesn’t sacrifice importance for entertainment, or vice versa.
Burns, by trusting the audience, has created a darkly authentic political thriller that does exactly what a movie like this one should do. It leaves you chastened and inspired.
Audaciously cerebral and unabashedly granular, writer-director Scott Z. Burns' political thriller The Report, a dramatization of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee's 2014 probe into the CIA's use of torture in the wake of 9/11, is practically pornography for policy wonks.
The Report is an angry, urgent film that rarely raises its voice, smartly conveying inhumanity and injustice without unnecessary drama. I found it thrilling.
It’s intelligent and clever scripting, and except for a few moments where the dialogue is overly expository, as if Burns doesn’t trust his audience, The Report pulls back the curtain on America’s political machinations and one of its most appalling policy decisions and attempted cover-ups with startling clarity.
The coolheaded patience of Burns’ approach is precisely what makes “The Report” so powerful in the end, not only as a lucid crystallization of our country’s recent political history, but also as an urgent reminder of how a world that prioritizes emotions over ethics will eat itself alive.
The Report (2019), directed by Scott Z. Burns, is a tense political thriller based on the true story of Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones and his investigation into the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program. This hard-hitting film delves into themes of government oversight, morality, and the pursuit of truth, giving viewers an insightful and harrowing look at one of the U. S. government's most controversial post-9/11 actions.Pros: Powerful Performances: Adam Driver shines as Daniel Jones, portraying his relentless pursuit of justice with an intensity that drives the entire film. His performance brings depth and empathy to a complex character dedicated to exposing uncomfortable truths. Annette Bening also delivers a notable portrayal of Senator Dianne Feinstein, adding gravitas to the role and providing a strong counterpart to Driver's character.Realistic and Well-Researched Storytelling: The Report doesn't shy away from the grisly details or the moral ambiguity of its subject. The film is incredibly well-researched, presenting the facts in a way that's both straightforward and emotionally compelling. It dives deep into the details of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used by the CIA, avoiding sensationalism and focusing instead on presenting the facts as they are.Gripping Pacing: Despite the complex and often dense subject matter, the film's pacing keeps it engaging. Burns masterfully weaves between different timelines and sequences, maintaining tension while explaining the importance of each step in Jones's investigation. The film is dialogue-heavy but remains captivating due to the sheer weight of its subject and the characters' dedication.Thought-Provoking Themes: At its core, The Report is a story about accountability, truth, and the consequences of unchecked power. The film raises important questions about the ethics of government action in times of crisis, pushing viewers to consider where the line should be drawn between national security and human rights.Cons: Heavy Subject Matter: The film's density and focus on procedural details might feel overwhelming for some viewers. The deep dive into government policies, classified documents, and bureaucratic language can be a lot to take in, especially for those unfamiliar with the specifics of the CIA's post-9/11 actions.Limited Character Development Outside of Jones: While Jones is portrayed with depth and intensity, other characters aren't as fully fleshed out. Bening's Senator Feinstein is a compelling presence, but supporting characters are sometimes relegated to the background, serving mainly to further the plot rather than adding additional layers to the story.Unrelenting Tone: The Report has a serious, unyielding tone that reflects the gravity of its subject. While fitting for the film's theme, the intensity might make it challenging for viewers looking for lighter or more varied moments to break the tension.Conclusion: The Report (2019) is an intense, well-crafted film that shines a light on one of the most unsettling episodes in recent American history. With powerful performances, especially from Adam Driver, and a gripping narrative, it presents a stark examination of government ethics and accountability. While it may feel dense or relentless for some viewers, it's a must-watch for anyone interested in political dramas and true stories that demand scrutiny and reflection. 8/10.
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The excellent direction, casting and screenplay doesnt do much to lift the dogmatic one sided plot (eg intelligent service bad, government beurocrats good) so here instead is a highly nuanced story crammed into the 2 hr runtime. Its extremely well produced and reminded me of other great political dramas like dark waters and JFK.
Staged in an interesting and exciting way, it is probably best in this film, which tries to uncover some shortcomings in the area of "extended interrogation methods" and sometimes very bizarre scenes result. The film is cast with some well-known series actors and other greats and played very well, Adam Driver again at an impeccable level. Due to its realistic subject matter, the film is partly dry and lengthy. You have a lot of things to think about during and after the film, so it's not "easy" fare. Overall worth seeing.
Finally, a realistic treatment of one of (if not the) most embarrassing episodes in our history. Exemplary acting across the board, especially from the three main actors, Adam Driver, Annette Bening, and Jon Hamm. From the very beginning, we knew what we were going to be doing was wrong and did not produce actionable intelligence, admitted on several previous occasions by the CIA themselves. But a spirit of revenge, and a fear of it happening again drove our intelligence community and our policy makers. John McCain, whom I already considered a hero, yet again validates the reverence for the man that my father taught me. And Diane Feinstein absolutely did the right thing in insisting that this report become public, that the hard work of the investigators see the light of day. We deserve to feel ashamed of what we did, because it was wrong. America, and Americans, and better than the behavior we demonstrated. May it never happen again.
(Mauro Lanari) In 1986, Primo Levi concluded "The Drowned and the Saved" by writing: "It happened, therefore it can happen again". In this case, with all due respect to producer Soderbergh and his screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, it's even certain that it's happening once again, right here and right now. So I would propose something less vacuous than a further Sidney Pollack or Alan Pakula-style film.
The pacing and structure have problems and this is due to the fact that despite the good performances and the good theme of the story, the film never becomes more pulsating or vibrant and when that happens no matter how much you try, the interest will not be the same and the result will not be satisfactory either.
I enjoyed the film and how the elaborate story of discovery of the torture and its cover-up played out. The film is notable for its absence of usual cheap narrative devices to add dramatic interest, like the suggestive presence of ominous characters hanging out in the background or trite tensions with a girlfriend who gets fed up with Adam's obsessive work. The story is indeed difficult to tell as there are not that many dramatic conflicts between characters; it is mostly about Adam doggedly going about his work, with events unfolding. I think someone with less investment in what happened may be less interested in the film. I certainly learned a lot and found it worthwhile.
The movie documents the levels of human evil that can be brought forth by fear even from the most innocent motives. Mix this with powerful individuals and one can get a recipe for disaterous foreign relations with nations that can no longer trust the United States to be the harbinger of good will. I thought the movie was riveting even though it was slow at times. Not an action movie, after all it is The Report.
Everything is fine with this movie except its blind, or at least naive, eye. Much like the public, nobody cares about torturing people who cut peoples heads off and fly planes into buildings. Lovely quote by Washington at the end, but i doubt if the general would be so kind if he fought this enemy. At the end of the day, what did this report do? No o e was indicted and I'll wager it put the fear of God into the scum who put us in this position in the first place. I see no nobility in this story. Only idealism. And idealism, zealotry, and a willingness to kill are what lead to 911. Lets have an in depth movie about the fanatics who perpetrated the 811 attack and the people who fought them for once. We were not the bad guys in this fight.
Probably too rooted in the theatrical tradition for some, but it does an exceptional job of compacting a massive amount of info into a comprehensible form Written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, The Report tells the story of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's $40m, five-year investigation into the CIA's illegal use of torture in the years after 9/11 - dubbed "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" (EIT). Completed in 2012, the Committee's findings were detailed in a 6,700-page Report, which remains classified, although a redacted 525-page Executive Summary was published in 2014. More of a procedural drama than a political thriller, it could do with a little emotion, and it's very talky, but this is a brilliantly acted and unflinching, look at one of the most shameful moments in US history. The plot is extremely straight-forward - it follows Senate investigator Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver), who is appointed as the head of a bipartisan six-person team (three Democrats, three Republicans) by Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) to investigate the CIA's general conduct when interrogating suspected terrorists. The film then takes us (often achronologically) from the commencement of the investigation in early 2009 on up to the fight to have the Report made public in 2013/2014, with both the CIA and the Obama Administration throwing up multiple obstacles. Much as were The Looming Tower and Vice (both 2018), The Report is a very left-centric narrative, and the depiction of James Mitchell (Douglas Hodge) and Bruce Jessen (T. Ryder Smith), the psychologists who developed and implemented EIT, is particularly condemning. If the film has any villains, it's these two; snake-oil salesmen with psychology degrees but no experience of actual interrogations and no data to back up their claims that torture works (because no such data exists - anyone who had read even a little history knows this). Mitchell and Jessen are shown as enjoying the experience of hurting these people – their justification for doing so (that such interrogation will save lives) exposed as utterly fabricated. At one point, Jones reports to Feinstein that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had been waterboarded 183 times without any results, prompting her to ask, "if it works, why did they need to do it 183 times?" Why indeed. The film makes no bones about just how ineffective EIT actually was; no useable information was ever extracted, and as Jones states, "all they did was make it impossible to prosecute mass murderers." Also emphasised is the CIA's attempts to provide legal justification for EIT - the Torture Memos made the argument that EIT is legal if it results in "unique, otherwise unavailable" intelligence, or, as Bernadette (a thinly-veiled Gina Haspel played by the goddess that is Maura Tierney) says, "it's only legal if it works." Thematically, although the film examines multiple politically charged themes, for the most part, its thematic concerns are understated. For example, the Republicans who oppose the Report adopt a stance of "admit nothing, deny everything, make counter-accusations". This has been Donald Trump's preferred method of defence since day one. This parallel is never explicitly addressed, but it's right there for those willing to see it. Although the film shows the reception of the Report and the debate regarding publication breaking down along broadly partisan lines, it doesn't shy away from complications - it mentions that Republicans Olympia Snowe and John McCain were in favour of publication, whereas Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Chief of Staff Denis McDonagh (Jon Hamm) were not. The film references Feinstein's disdain for Edward Snowden and whistle-blowers in general, and it's to Burns's credit that he doesn't shy away from such complications, thus avoiding an overly neat dichotomy of Democrat=good/Republican=bad. In terms of problems, it's exceptionally talky. It didn't bother me, but I can certainly understand people regarding it as one step removed from an audio recording of the actual Report. There's also a distinct lack of emotion. Along the same lines, there's no character development – we learn nothing about anyone beyond their involvement or connection with EIT and the Report. This is by design, of course, with Burns wanting to focus on the facts, but again, I can understand people finding it unsatisfactory. The Report is a straightforward and restrained film, in which Burns's focus is razor-sharp and unwavering. Depicting how EIT shamed the nation, betraying the very values that were being fought for in the first place, the film excoriates both the Bush administration for letting it happen and the Obama administration for its reluctance to make it public. It's not exactly exciting in a traditional sense, but it sure is compelling; a story that's infuriating insofar as it happened, horrifying insofar as, given the clown currently in the Oval Office, it could happen again.
As both director and writer, Burns handles the 10+ years of political history with great ease, masterfully crafting a film that is both well-paced and fascinating from start to finish. Films like The Report can often get wrapped up in political and legal jargon, but Burns’ script is easy to follow even for audiences with little knowledge of the subject matter. That isn’t to say that it has been dumbed down; it is accessible while still being smart and informative.
This theory is more convincing. It is humble and confident in its logistics. I bought it because they weren't selling it. The Report The writer and director Scott Z. Burns has returned after a while in the director's chair with an effective procedure and one and only one thing in his mind. Politics. While the film mostly works tediously on the journalism, the crux of the plot is puppeteered by the politics. It is framed as a part of democracy, war, partition and correction. These corrections are actually massively hungry in its nature. It pushes every party into believing that they are right. They might be pushing few boundaries and bending a few rules as a part of an excuse that they call it as their contribution in fighting against the evil. And though everyone is aiming for peace. This very difference, in every step, makes our unsung hero stand tall. And it is an unsettling feeling that we have. We gravitate towards him like some typical western genre hero would pull us. Adam Driver is on a surreal run. He is stretching his bones and begging for us to read The Report that he has written. There is unfathomable hard work and unfiltered devotion to be right. And then comes the force outside this circle that tries to pop out this bubble with all the schemes it can think of. Which then creates what could be described as this king and slave dynamics. This equivalency of owning others' birth rights does not only gets on theirs but our nerves too. The performance nourishes those sentiments with beautiful language in which Burns paints their emotions. The only regret of mine are the dark cringing images that the film projects. It can be too much to handle. To be fair, I shouldn't have been eating that bucket of ice cream while watching it.
THE REPORT "The USA Torture Report perfectly unedited" Release November 29th, 2019 streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Actor Adam Driver picks up right where he left off with his role in BlacKkKlansman as Flip Zimmerman with his portrayal of Senatorial staffer Daniel Jones in The Report, a dramatic, investigative, political thriller based on actual events. The actual events depicted in the film were conducted under the auspices of the United States Central Intelligence Agency's operation of a post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program. Staffer Jones begins investigating the program and discovers subversion of law, destruction of evidentiary materials and encounters stonewalling from the nation's highest intelligence agency in their attempts to conceal the interrogation program results. The film has a feel of a thrilling and riveting docu-drama similar to All the President's Men with the ominous dark undertone reminiscent of the Parallax View. Notwithstanding, the buffoon-like portrayal of the $80 million program directors, psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jensen, is quite disturbing and immediately brings to mind the New York City (NYC) Mayor's Office and the NYC Police Department coerced confessions of the Central Park Five. Burns became inspired to make the film after reading a 2007 Vanity Fair article by Katherine Eban detailing how Mitchell and Jensen became the architects of the country's enhanced interrogation movement under the George H. Bush Administration. Annette Bening portrays United States Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) in Scott Burns' THE REPORT. (Photo Credit Atsushi Nishijima) But, it's Adam Driver as Daniel Jones in a Frank Serpico-like performance that makes The Report work. Having John Hamm in the mix as Denis McDonough, President Obama's National Security Council's chief of Strategic Communication adds a powerful element to the story's setting. Annette Bening delivers an uncanny likeness and seems to channel United States Senator Diane Feinstein, (D-Calif.). Maura Tierney, Sarah Goldberg, Ted Levine, and Matthew Rhys help round out a strong ensemble cast assembled by Avy Kaufman. Meanwhile, Production Designer Ethan Tobman creates a realistic set conducive to the suspension of disbelief. And, it's Jones' relentless pursuit of the truth that is most inspiring as Jones spends years uncovering and defending what is right. What results is a nearly 7000-page classified (still to this day) report and the longest investigation in the history of the United States Senate. What's more mind-boggling is that few Americans are aware of it. Instead learning from what happened in the program's, the nation's deep state apparatus hid, stonewalled and redacted any criminal wrongdoing of the program's sadistic directors and violated the American people's trust which leaves the viewer to wonder and question if our democracy is broken beyond repair. Jon Hamm portrays Denis McDonough in Scott Burns' THE REPORT. (Photo Credit Atsushi Nishijima) The film is slated to be released into theatres on November 15th, 2019, and will be screening during the 50th Anniversary of the Nashville Film Festival, Oct0ber 3rd through October 12, 2019, in Nashville, Tennessee. The Report is an Amazon Studios Original film, written and directed by Scott Z. Burns with a run time of 118 minutes. The story seemed **** it is. Simply because the American people were held in the dark due to national security until now. The Report shines a bright light - illuminating power and exposing the truth. A "must-see" film!
A meticulously detailed, methodically explained history of the efforts to prepare and release a Senate report detailing the fraud and failings of the CIA's Enhanced Interrogation Techniques program implemented in the wake of 9/11 as an alleged means of combating terrorism. Excellent performances by Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Maura Tierney and a fine ensemble of supporting players enliven a story that otherwise could have been potentially tedious. The picture's razor-sharp script not only delivers the facts, but it does so with edgy wit and just the right amount of cynicism to expose the true nature of what was really going on during a turbulent period in the nation's history, when ethics were placed on the chopping block in favor of expediency and the fulfillment of dubious agendas. This one hasn't been receiving much attention, and it's unlikely to be in theaters for very long, but it's a smart, savvy, eye-opening offering that every truly loyal American should see.
I got a chance to watch this at the london film festival and boy did I enjoy it. Directed by Scott z burns this political thriller shines a light on the cruelty of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” (torture) following the events of 9/11, and really opened my eyes on how horrific and immoral their actions were. I would strongly recommend this to anyone if not for the quality of the film then for purpose of understanding what actually happened. Too many people dismiss the CIA’s actions by saying that ‘at least it worked’ and this is the very reason Burns decided to take up the project. Another film that you should watch either before of after this is vice, which takes place roughly around the same time and gives you an insight into the presidential offices and the mastermind behind the chaos. Adam Driver takes the scene as Daniel Jones, the the lead investigator on the case of the CIA, delivering one of if not his best performance yet. The rest of the cast, which features several big-name actors such as John hamm, remain pretty consistent and I can’t recall a moment where the acting felt sloppy. The plot is well structured keeping you on the edge of your seat at all times, but I do think the beginning and character introductions were rushed ever so slightly. However apart from that I have no complaints about the film and I seriously suggest you watch this now that it’s officially released .
This is a film about a young government staffer (Adam Driver) who is tasked with looking into and filing a report on the excessive enhanced interrogation (torture) methods that regularly occurred for well over a decade following the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. We witness his moral conflict regarding the matter as the film progresses as he becomes more determined to get to bottom of it and ensure that his report sees the light of day. The film undoubtedly gives a very harrowing account of a controversial topic, and provides great insight and detail on the subject through expert editing and fine acting from all involved, especially Driver in a compelling performance. Annette Benning and Jon Hamm to name a couple otherz also give equally committed performances. Overall, while it did seem to follow the standard biopic/true story formula at times, the unique way in which the film was tightly-edited and well-acted make it an interesting and worthwhile watch.
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