Movies The Report - Adam Driver investigates the CIA torture progam

[TwinIon]

 

83% on RT

 

Available now on Amazon Prime, The Report follows a senate staffer tasked with researching and writing a report on the CIA's torture program following 9/11.

 

 

It's a slow, quiet movie that lacks the flair or emotion of The Post or Spotlight, but it feels somehow more essential than either. At a time when government infighting is in the news every day and the very idea of separation of powers is about to be interrogated before the supreme court, The Report is a reminder about the importance of transparency and accountability. It's also a grim film, repeatedly showing scenes of torture in progress and pulling no punches when it comes to the suffocating nature of a bureaucracy intent on self preservation. (Real life spoiler) There is no catharsis here, no title card at the end telling us how everything is now ok and that justice has been served.

 

It's also a film that wants to be very clear on the facts being presented, at times almost distractingly so. It's a film that feels the burden of this story, and desperately wants viewers to understand that there are no mitigating factors here. In Spotlight, the crimes uncovered are monstrous on their face. In The Report, there's the added burden that it needs to convince viewers that these crimes were not only evil, but ineffective and unnecessary. Due to the nature of story, it also has to do without a lot of characters. Adam Driver never gets to sit down and interrogate anyone from the CIA. There is very little direct confrontation, which forces the facts being presented to carry the drama.

 

What drama there is to be had is propelled almost singularly by Adam Driver's performance. He's on screen for nearly the entire run, and as time passes and his academic and professional courtesy deteriorate, you can feel the weight that this job has put on his character. It won't win any awards, but it's another example of how he's today's most versatile leading man.

 

It's not flashy, but it's also not boring, and if you've got Amazon and a couple hours to spend, The Report is well worth a watch.

[skillzdadirecta]

I plan on checking this out this week..

[TheLeon]

Marriage Story hits Netflix on Friday. We are definitely in Adam Driver Season. 

[Greatoneshere]

It's by Scott Z. Burns, I'm all in. Heard great things from the festival circuit (same with Marriage Story).

[GeneticBlueprint]

Fantastic movie. The dry delivery really works. I love it.

[TwinIon]

Here's a recommendation of the film from a Guantánamo Bay lawyer.

 

He mentions something I didn't know:

Quote

the Gestapo’s euphemism for torture was Verschärfte Vernehmung, which translates as “Enhanced Interrogation”. Various Nazis were hanged for applying “VV” to their prisoners.

 

 

He also brings up that Jones didn't talk to any of the victims. I don't know if Jones would have been allowed to interview any of them, but I think it is notable that it doesn't really come up.