FilmSnobReviews

Title: The Report
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: Scott Z. Burns
Starring: Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

What It Is: After the events of 9/11 the United States government instituted new interrogation techniques. These techniques led to things like the Guantanamo Bay incidences and suspicions of torture up to and including waterboarding. California Senator Diane Feinstein (D) (Bening) enlist her staffer Daniel Jones (Driver) to investigate this and write a report with is findings. 5 years and several hundred pages later a document that could change the face of the FBI and unravel years of war crimes has been crafted. Will it ever see the light of day?

What We Think: Adam Driver is phenomenal in what might be his best role to date. This is a film that grips its talons into you and refuses to let go. Some of the things that are spoken about here are things that make you question everything you knew about the FBI. It’s all so painful to watch as things like fear, and racism. Two conditions that ran rampant post-911. Annette Bening is her typical stellar and Burns directs this script (which he also wrote) absolutely perfectly. Everything is crisp and well told.

Our Grade: A-, An incredibly good film and one that will certainly garner both critical and audience acclaim once it is released. Amazon picked this one up and that is great news for both Amazon and this film. I highly recommend this film it was one of my personal favorites of the entire festival. A shout out to Michael C. Hall doing some fantastic work here in his small role. Beating out performances like Paterson or his Oscar-nominated turn in Blackkklansman is a large triumph and I think it’s one that he’s accomplished here. Also, we can always use more Annette Bening in our lives.