The issue of the Federal Government using waterboarding in the last couple of decades is still a hot button issue. Even though there are some who now call it “enhanced interrogation techniques,” others call it torture and, and it will always be a dark chapter in the history of this country. Take that in a post-September 11th America, and that is what there is with “The Report”.
Witten and directed by Scott Z. Burns (The View), Adam Driver (BlacKKKlansman) stars in this based-on-a-true-story tale as Daniel Jones, who has worked for the CIA and is tasked to review their actions during the war on terror, specifically as it pertains to “enhanced interrogation techniques to report to the Senate. As he gives his periodic updates to Senator Diane Feinstein (Benning), what follows is the story of Daniel trying to get the truth and the report completed while receiving constant resistance from the CIA.
The look here really works, as I liked the sets they used for the foreign “black sites” which made the point of even just being at the locations was foreboding. When it comes to acting, there are a lot of supporting roles, but the focus is on Bening (who is always steady in the quality of her performances) and Driver (who gets my shout-out as this could be one of the greatest roles I have seen him in as a guy who gives and risks everything on every level to get to the truth). With a great supporting cast, the two leads could see some recognition early next year.
“The Report” is two hours long, and it seemed that it was longer than it should have been. While it gets the main bullet points of its story in, I wish they would have gone into more detail in certain areas while cutting back on some things that had too much detail. It was like watching a replay of a WWE PPV where they showed the full mid card matches, but only showed highlights of the main event. Still, the film was good and I would recommend it, but as an early morning on the weekends showing in the theaters.