Adam Driverhas had one of the more idiosyncratic career arcs of any actor working today. After making his on-screen debut in the TV seriesThe Unusualsin 2009, Driver went on to play supporting roles in numerous independent movies. These included scene-stealing performances in films such asFrances HaandInside LlewynDavis. He also played smaller roles in films by acclaimed directors such as Clint Eastwood andSteven Spielberg, includingJ. EdgarandLincoln. Starting in 2015, he transitioned to the mainstream when he made his debut as Kylo Ren inStar Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.
Since making hisStar Warsdebut, the roles Driver has taken on have been incredibly varied and with mixed results. This is evidenced through parts inMarriage Storyand this year’scritically pannedMegalopolis, both of which have subsequently been the subject of memes. Even apart from these viral moments, Driver has made interesting choices in the projects he takes on, continuing to work with big directors like Spike Lee and Jim Jarmusch. One of Driver’s films from 2019 includes some particularly shocking sequences.
A CIA Officer Reviews The Report
The Movie Gets A Good Accuracy Rating
A CIA officer provides a glowing accuracy review forThe Report.The Reportis a 2019 political drama about a senate staffer named Daniel J. Jones (Driver) who has to lead an investigation into the CIA’s post-9/11 Detention and Interrogation program, wherein he discovers a slew of truths that surprise him. In addition to Driver,The Reportfeatures a leading cast including Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Ted Levine, Corey Stoll, Evander Duck Jr., and Linda Powell. The film received fairly strong critical reviews, scoring an82% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Reportis currently available to watch on Prime Video and Freevee.
In an interview withInsider, former CIA officer John Kiriakou gives his review ofThe Report. Kiriakou explains that he was the script advisor forThe Report, sayingeverything in the film happened. He goes on to explain the various “enhanced interrogation techniques” used by the CIA, as well as his own objections to said methods. He states that waterboarding was among the worst of the techniques, referring to it as “pretty darn bad.” Overall, he gave the movie a10/10 accuracy rating. Check out the full quote from Kiriakou below:
Another person that you saw in the clip was Ali Soufan. Ali and I worked together, both in Yemen and in Pakistan. Ali Soufan went to the secret sit, and Ali did what the FBI has been doing. He established a rapport with his prisoner, and after about six weeks of this rapport development with Ali, he finally opened up and he gave us actionable information.
So briefly in this clip, you see one of those contract pyschologists, James Mitchell, explaining to Ali Soufan what his goal is. His goal is learned helplessness. That is the goal. The goal is to completely break him psychologically. Now, they did that by using what they called enhanced interrogation technique. Some of them were very very minor and mild. It sort of worsened to things like sleep deprivation. We saw that in the clip with the loud music. And you saw Zubaydah hanging by his wrists with handcuffs, so he can’t kneel or sit, or lay, or get comfortable in any way.
Waterboarding, which most Americans now know about, is supposed to be the worst. And it’s pretty darn bad. We waterboarded each other in training just to see what it’s like. It’s awful. Sleep deprivation and the cold cell, actually killed more people. Where, it’s already 50 degrees, you’re so cold, and you’re naked, and you have this ice water thrown on you. And your body just stops working. You go into shock and just die. you’re able to put whatever euphemism you want on it. You can call it enhanced interrogation technique, I don’t care what you call it. What we did to some of those people was just illegal.
Just to be transparent, I was the script advisor on that film. And it was written by a friend of mine. Everything in that film was true. Everything was based on the senate torture report. In this clip we see Adam Driver, who is portraying the senate intelligence committee’s lead investigator on the CIA’s torture program. What was released was not the senate torture report. It was a very heavily redacted copy of the executive summary of the torture report. The torture report itself was 5,000 pages long. The executive summary was 500. Now what we saw in this clip was Adam Driver briefing senator Diane Feinstein, who at the time was the senior Democractic senator from California and chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on his findings. His findings were that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks was waterboarded 187 times. Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times. Neither one of them gave up any actionable intelligence during torture. I objected to the CIA’s use of so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques, which I believe to be torture,’ and I went public with that information in December of 2007. I resigned from the CIA to go into the private sector. All this time by the way, I’m waiting for somebody to come out and say something, and nobody said anything. As a result I was prosectured and served 30 months in prison. But I’m glad I did. Somebody had to do it. And in the end, it made this country a safer place. This clip and the movie The Report as a whole is a 10. A strong 10.
Our Take On Kiriakou’s The Report Explanation
The Report Takes A Clear Stance
Because Kiriakou helped polish the film’s script, his opinion onThe Reportwill be colored with bias. That said, it is still interesting to hear his take on the film, as it sheds light on the perspective that the film is taking. With the actions ofDriver’s character, the movie is obviously not pro-torture, but the fact that its consultant was someone so against these methods shaped how the script was written. This led to a film that is an interesting entry withinDriver’s oeuvre.
The Report
Cast
The Report is a political drama directed by Scott Z. Burns. Adam Driver stars as Daniel J. Jones, a Senate staffer tasked with investigating the CIA’s use of torture after 9/11. Annette Bening co-stars as Senator Dianne Feinstein, who oversees Jones’s work.
