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Adam Driver is known for many big roles like Kylo Ren in Star Wars or as a stage director going through a difficult divorce in Marriage Story, but his role in The Report might be one of his most intense performances yet.
Political thrillers aren't for everyone, so Driver's star power might be a good selling point here, as it is worth watching the movie for his performance alone. The film is also highly rated, earning a place in our best Prime Video movies list. Here, he plays former United States Senate investigator Daniel J. Jones, whose most notable work on the CIA Torture report formed the inspiration for this gripping movie.
Throughout the movie, Daniel leads a review of six million pages of CIA materials related to their use of enhanced interrogation techniques, which was a program of systematic torture carried out in locations such as Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Bucharest. The movie uncovers some dark truths about what happened, depicting what was found in this report.
While it's not an easy watch by any means, it is an essential one, and there's a great supporting cast, including Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Ted Levine, and Michael C. Hall.
A dark chapter in American history
With an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes, most critics are in agreement about The Report, many praising it for the "cold" way it was filmed, as well as Adam Driver's "commanding" performance in the leading role.
The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey said: "Director Scott Z Burns captures the events in a cold, rigorously factual, and largely dispassionate manner. But that's the point."
Anthony Lane at the New Yorker added: "The film, written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, takes its cue from the stern dedication of its hero; the result feels pressurized, disheartening, and fraught."
While Variety described the movie as: "A large-scale saga of corruption, justice, and overwhelming relevance that's at once gripping and eye-opening, even if you're the sort of news junkie who thinks they already know the story."
The Report is well worth your time if you want to tick off another Adam Driver movie or to learn more about this controversial political period. Whatever your reasons, make sure you catch it while it's available on Prime Video.
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