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8

Brent_MarchantNov 21, 2019

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 anA 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.… Expand

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7

amheretojudgeNov 30, 2019

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 effectiveThis 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.… Expand

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8

Bertaut1Dec 6, 2019

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 SenateProbably 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.… Expand

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8

HollywoodGleeNov 27, 2019

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.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 unfinished.......and 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!… Expand

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9

Sierra-117Nov 17, 2019

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, andI 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 .… Expand

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8

moviemitch96Nov 16, 2019

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 aftermathThis 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.… Expand

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6

UncleWillardDec 10, 2019

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 doubtEverything 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.… Expand

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8

CMCDec 27, 2019

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 ominousI 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.… Expand