The Report

A critique of The Report runs up against the same problem facing many documentary reviews: Do you argue about the merits of the material or the merits of the filmmaking? Here, Scott Burns successfully wrote, directed, and produced an unbelievably important film for our time. Adam Driver stars as the bureaucrat responsible for investigating the CIA’s use of torture post-9/11 with strong support from Annette Benning’s Senator Diane Feinstein. Both turn in compelling performances that carry the film, but it’s ultimately more important than enjoyable. Look, this is a movie about a bureaucratic investigation that ended in a 6700+ page report. This is the inner workings of Capitol Hill, the CIA, Congress, and the military industrial complex. It’s hard to make this film a fun romp and, although he’s been criticized for this, Burns made the right choice to not add more action. He took a hard grind at a difficult topic, just like protagonist Daniel Jones did with the torture investigation, and produced a thorough, satisfying, meaningful film. See it because it’s important and you should know what happened.