Film Review: The Report Is A Hard Look At America’s Sins
I was a little kid in New York when 9/11 happened, and though memories my childhood fade into blips of my like for Barbies, obsession with Pokemon, and the belief that Cheetos were nutritious. Yet, if there is one day I remember clearly, it was 9/11. Kids beings called away from class, some to a home with one less parent, and an ensuing month filled with funerals and adults constantly explaining to us what was death, Heaven, and evil. I mention this backstory because America did change. We had fought many wars and experiences/ committed many gruesome acts, but they were all somewhere else. Thus, fear, shame, and the over-whelming sadness of knowing you are not safe transformed the nation, but The Report, out November 15 and on Amazon Prime November 29, reveals not for the better.
As, technically, a “period piece”, The Report is a rough watch. When people think of films that nosedive into past eras, they love swanky France in the 1800’s or the cool Flappers of 1920’s. Yet, The Report goes straight for the 2000’s, in an America that looks much like the one now: terrified of “others” that are brown, willing to cage and mistreat them, even if innocent, and promulgating that such acts were done because they were coming to take “our freedom.” The narrative of fear is always the same, and it, usually, has two set roles: the oppressor, who is so terrified he becomes terrifying, and the oppressed: the victim to said fear. Race, money, corruption, and a sincere questions as to whether morals have any place in the U.S. government beyond image come to the forefront in The Report, which is based off a true story.
THE REPORT Official Trailer (2019) Adam Driver, Jon Hamm Movie HD
Adam Driver plays Daniel J. Jones; the real life Senate Staffer ordered to investigate Abu Ghraib and the C.I.A.’s torture tactics in post 9/11. Driver makes Daniel a man of pure integrity. He is OBSESSED with doing the right thing and standing up for justice and truth; both of which he believes are the American way. Hence, you are shocked to see how much backlash he receives. In America, truth and justice are things you either pay for or have enough money and power to hide. Daniel’s battle is constantly uphill, and Driver’s portrayal of his integrity is vital in gripping audiences and seeing them through some visceral scenes of torture.
Written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, this man does not hold back when it comes to portraying torture and showing he structural idiocy and shame that led America to torture brown, Middle-Eastern men for …….nothing. Yes, we did not even get information, at least the right one, but as Burns sees it; the C.I.A.’s motives were not completely to protect our nation as much as amend that it didn’t. Warning signs were flashing that 9/11 was going to happen and clues were left like breadcrumbs the months/ years before this atrocity occurred, but they were all ignored. Burn’s film shows that this legendary agency can run like a super violent episode of The Office; where Michael Scott and Dwight decide to water-board Jim into telling them where the vending machine is, except that there is none. You may laugh at that comparison, but it truly has to a cosmic comedy that both Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell were paid nearly 200 million dollars, altogether, for torturing men for nothing, while claiming to be psychologists because one studied nutrition and the other took a course on family therapy through stick figures.
Adam Driver & Jon Hamm talk ‘The Report’ – Variety Studio Sundance 2019
Annette Benning gives a powerful turn as Senator Dianne Feinstein; playing as a stern woman seeking truth but knowledgeable enough that her fellow congressman, particularly Republicans, will not want to hear it. Benning’s Feinstein is balanced and bold, all at once, which is why she likes Daniel, but has no problem putting him in his place. Meanwhile, Jon Hamm’s turn as Denis McDonough is both charming and alarming became he embodies “the politics” of politics and rounds up The Report’s biggest gripe with the U.S. government; where is its ethics?
