The third act focuses on Senator Feinstein trying to make the report public to the nation only to hit up against the roadblocks of CIA aggressive redactions and frivolous claims of exposing national security secrets, methods, blah, blah, blah.
The Report is not an easy nor exciting story to tell. A great deal of credit goes to director Scott Z. Burns for creating a political thriller that centers around a team of three people researching over 6.3 million pages of classified documents and then writing the report on Microsoft Word. Sure, it might have been fun to add late-night foot chases by mysterious covert agents, but that never happened. It was of vital importance that the report made its way to the public but darn those pesky laws. Jones even had the integrity to not leak the report to the press, which would be unheard of today. The Report is thrilling, nonetheless.
“…creating a political thriller that centers on three people researching classified documents and then writing the report…”
It has to be said that the best thing about The Report is Adam Driver and Annette Benning. Driver portrays Daniel Jones brilliantly as a driven man in pursuit of the truth. He works endless days, doesn’t have any semblance of a personal life, and you feel the immense frustration when almost six years of his life’s work is about to be stored next to the Ark of the Covenant, never to see the light of day. The cast is rounded out wonderfully with Corey Stoll, Jon Hamm, Maura Tierney, Michael C. Hall, Tim Blake Nelson, and Ted Levine.
Benning plays Feinstein in such a way that she’s recognizable to most Californians. I don’t always agree with Feinstein’s politics or positions, but what I know of her is she takes her job as Senator seriously. She’s smart and astute and willing to go against her party if need be. In a way, Benning’s stature as Hollywood royalty perfectly suits her as a U.S. Senator.
The Report is not your standard political thriller, like All The President’s Men or Charlie Wilson’s War. It’s about a 7,000-page report that Feinstein and Jones fought to make public. This movie exists to not only shine a light on the covert and unaccountable activities of the CIA’s torture problem but, ironically, shine a light on this public report that was finally published, and people still don’t know anything about.
"…Benning plays Feinstein in such a way that she’s recognizable to most Californians."
