By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats | 3 cats
Director: Scott A. Burns
Starring: Adam Driver | Annette Bening | Corey Stoll | Evander Duck Jr. | Jon Hamm | Michael C. Hall
Country: united_states
Year: 2019
Running time: 119
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8236336/reference
Diane says: “Scott Burns’ THE REPORT, starring Adam Driver, is decidedly uncinematic, at least for the first 2/3 of the film. It’s the story of Dan Jones, a Senate Intelligence staffer who labors for years (mostly in a small secure room) to uncover the facts about torture at Guantanamo and elsewhere. Jones’ boss, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) tries to keep Jones’ growing obsession from blowing up politically.
“Despite Burns’ attempt to liven the film up with a variety of shots for people talking on the phone or sitting in meetings, and a lot of music to heighten the tension, this story should have stayed in print. It is in fact based on a Vanity Fair article. Driver, who I love, does nothing out of the ordinary with the role, and most of the rest of the cast, including Bening, deliver their lines woodenly. The film also suffers because of its stuntmen-performed torture scenes—who wants to see any of that again?
“I haven’t seen Burns’ other films, but note that he was the director of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH and its sequel. THE REPORTER is timely as we root for a whistleblower to persist. 2 cats (because the suspense creeps up in the last 1/3)”
Thom says: “Generally it takes a lot to captivate me in the government disclosure film genre, especially one where the basic facts are already there on public display. But this one has some notable exceptions attached to it that make it particularly cogent, even necessa ry. This one is about the shocking discovery that after 9/11, government security staff was not only responsible for copious use of torture on supposed terrorists, but did everything in their power to deny it publicly. In this case, thank God for the whistle-blowers who were so disturbed by what they had witnessed they came forward to testify. Running the investigation was Daniel J. Jones a staffer from the office of California Senator Dianne Feinstein, an idealistic type who uncovers more secrets than he can effectively sort through, although a truth does finally emerge. I was living in San Francisco when Feinstein was President of the Board of Supervisors; she then had the unfortunate responsibility of informing the public that Mayor George Moscone & Supervisor Harvey Milk had been gunned down at City Hall by psychotic ex-Supervisor Dan White. White had been elected but he quit in protest of the “cynical” inner-workings of the City Hall intelligentsia. Members from his area of the city persuaded him to ask for his seat back but Moscone refused his plea, thus setting up the murders. As President of the Board, Feinstein was appointed as Mayor and won in a landslide for a full term. A few short years later she began her long tenure as Senator. So she’s permanently etched into my memory and it was fun watching the ultra-talented Annette Bening trying, rather successfully, to assay the part. Driver is excellent as the idealistic staffer.
“But, in the end, the most important element of the film are the unforgettable images of torture that will forever stand against the true worth of these United States. 4 cats“