Report Report

Not long ago, on a movie podcast I listen to (The Next Picture Show, if you're curious), the movie The Report was mentioned. It had been on my radar before that, but had been lost in the rush of other options. The podcast mention ended up reminding me to boost it back up the list, and soon I did get around to it.

The Report (sometimes styled something like The ■■■■■■■ Report) is based on the true story of Daniel Jones and the Senate Intelligence Committee as they tried to review the torture program employed by the CIA in the wake of the September 11th terror attacks. It's an interesting subject for dramatization. The outcome is fairly well known. (At least, I think it is; and the movie should be more widely seen if not.) The obstruction along the way was, I thought, fairly known too. But the movie makes suspenseful (and infuriating) all the frustrations of bureaucracy.

The movie was released in 2019, but it certainly has topical things to say about the years since. That's because only part of the movie is focused on the uncontroversial thesis that torture is amoral and wrong. Another part of the movie -- and perhaps the larger part -- is a cautionary tale about the price of not holding people accountable for their wrongs. It argues that a failure to pursue justice in the name of some post-partisan "deescalation" simply means you've allowed the goalposts to be moved. If a crime is committed, and there is no justice for it, then it's not a crime anymore.

That said, there's a difference between a movie espousing politics I happen to agree with and a movie that truly entertains. The Report does have its moments, but there's sort of a ceiling on how compelling it can be. The cast is solid: Adam Driver stars as the stubborn and stoic Daniel Jones, while Annette Bening is Senator Dianne Feinstein (whom the movie doesn't exactly lionize, to its credit). The supporting cast includes Jon Hamm, Jennifer Morrison, Tim Blake Nelson, Ted Levine, Michael C. Hall, Maura Tierney, and Matthew Rhys. It's really a stacked cast for mostly slight roles in a movie most people probably haven't heard of.

But now you have, at least. And maybe it's for you. It's easy to find at least; Amazon wound up producing the film, so you can watch it with a Prime subscription. If political thrillers are your thing, it might be worth a watch. I give The Report a B.