Review: "The Report" Does a Decent Job of Telling Harsh Truths

Scene from The Report (2019)

It's Fall 2019, and writer/director Scott Z. Burns is concerned about America's well-being. Two months after collaborating with Stephen Soderbergh on the Panama Papers drama The Laundromat, he takes to something even more pressing and controversial. The Report finds Adam Driver starring as Senator staffer Daniel Jones as he discovers some dark secrets in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks. Apparently, the War on Terror isn't off to the friendliest of starts with suspects being waterboarded, tortured, and placed in confined spaces while soldiers blare Marilyn Manson tracks. Jones is one of the few in Washington D.C. with a conscience to stand up against the system, and it's here that the procedural begins to take form. The results are engrossing yet uncomfortable, managing to reflect a taboo subject with such visceral force that it's equal parts shocking and too much. 

"The Report" Trailer Classifies Adam Driver as an Oscar Front-Runner

Scene from The Report (2019)

Things are starting to heat up for Adam Driver. Two days ago, he appeared in the trailer for Netflix's Marriage Story. Today he makes his appearance in one of Amazon Studios' biggest pushes for Oscar glory with The Report. Considering that he's coming off of an Oscar nomination for BlacKkKlansman, he may be looking at something unprecedented: a possible double nomination. Both of his Fall 2019 performances promise to be big pushes this season, and The Report's early buzz has argued that it's among his finest work. With the drama being a post-9/11 look at national security, it's going to be a buzzy topic and one that could electrify conversation. Thankfully the trailer already looks to have done all but solidify him as a force to be reckoned with this season.