The Report written and directed by Scott Z. Burns
Rating *****
A few years ago the film Spotlight won an Oscar for best picture. I put this film in the same league as that picture. Both films cover investigations into wrongdoing. In the case of The Report, the wrongdoing is state sponsored torture by our own CIA.
While Spotlight involved a team of investigative journalists, this story has one determined individual undergoing the investigation. Working for Senator Dianne Feinstein, played by Annette Bening, Daniel Jones, played by Adam Driver, spends five years going through millions of pages of documents to uncover the truth of both the torture and the attempts to cover up the actions of the CIA.
I can remember at the time the claims by the Bush/Cheney administration that the enhanced interrogation of detainees resulted in actionable intelligence. The claims were false.
This film shows that a good story and acting can beat any super hero movie. Adam Driver gives an Oscar worthy performance. I would also nominate the script.
You can stream The Report right now on Amazon Prime.
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