movie thoughts: The Report (2019)
Dec. 15th, 2019 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orangerfulI'm not sure why I thought a fun thing to watch on my Saturday morning would be a movie about the Congressional investigation in the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques" but I'm going to blame Adam Driver, who I just really like and trust when it comes to choosing interesting roles.
The Report is an Amazon Studios film that chronicles the investigation, lead by Daniel Jones (Driver), into the CIA's torture of prisoners of war after the 9/11 attacks.
For a film that was 75% Adam Driver looking concerned/upset/frustrated, it was engrossing, probably because I only have a vague memory of these discussions happening around me when they actually happened. And I never did a deep dive into what was really going on. And I think I tend to think of the entire world of American politics flipping over every 4 years but the reality is, while the President and Congress might change, a lot of the people that run the big organizations stay in it because they are not appointed or elected, they just have their jobs.
And I always knew that different government departments didn't get along - my Dad worked for DOD for a long time - but I guess I didn't realize to what extent the animosity goes.
I doubt many people read Jones' 700 page report, but the fact that he could fill 700 pages says a lot. Everyone in this movie was fantastic and from what I can tell, it is relatively faithful to the facts. In the end, all we can do is own up to these mistakes but it is scary how easy they are to make and how LONG it can take for the truth to come out.
If you like political movies based on real events, where the tension and drama comes from putting the pieces together, I really recommend this one. Driver is fantastic, but so is Annette Bening as Senator Feinstein. Plus we see Jon Hamm, Jennifer Morrison, Michael C. Hall and other faces you'll recognize even if you don't know the actors names.
And if you have Prime, you can watch it streaming right now.
The Report is an Amazon Studios film that chronicles the investigation, lead by Daniel Jones (Driver), into the CIA's torture of prisoners of war after the 9/11 attacks.
For a film that was 75% Adam Driver looking concerned/upset/frustrated, it was engrossing, probably because I only have a vague memory of these discussions happening around me when they actually happened. And I never did a deep dive into what was really going on. And I think I tend to think of the entire world of American politics flipping over every 4 years but the reality is, while the President and Congress might change, a lot of the people that run the big organizations stay in it because they are not appointed or elected, they just have their jobs.
And I always knew that different government departments didn't get along - my Dad worked for DOD for a long time - but I guess I didn't realize to what extent the animosity goes.
I doubt many people read Jones' 700 page report, but the fact that he could fill 700 pages says a lot. Everyone in this movie was fantastic and from what I can tell, it is relatively faithful to the facts. In the end, all we can do is own up to these mistakes but it is scary how easy they are to make and how LONG it can take for the truth to come out.
If you like political movies based on real events, where the tension and drama comes from putting the pieces together, I really recommend this one. Driver is fantastic, but so is Annette Bening as Senator Feinstein. Plus we see Jon Hamm, Jennifer Morrison, Michael C. Hall and other faces you'll recognize even if you don't know the actors names.
And if you have Prime, you can watch it streaming right now.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-12-16 01:31 pm (UTC)I remember a little about those discussions, but this was right when I started to pay more attention to national politics and realizing just how shitty and secretive and deceptive a lot of that stuff is. At some point, I think I just went, "So, they're torturing people? And pretending not to? Bastards." I didn't do anything about because I'm lazy, but I do remember some heated discussions with my college classmates at the time.
If only it weren't Amazon.... Guess I'm waiting for the DVD! (I'm currently 10th in line for Good Omens FINALLY. Bloody streaming wars.)