Category: Movie Reviews

“The Report” (2019) starring Adam Driver, Annette Bening, & Jon Hamm

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The Report is a thriller based on actual events. Idealistic staffer Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver) is tasked by his boss Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) to lead an investigation of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program created in the aftermath of 9/11. Jones’ relentless pursuit of the truth leads to findings that uncover the lengths to which the nation’s top intelligence agency went to destroy evidence, subvert the law, and hide a shocking secret from the American public. The Report is written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, and the film also stars Jon Hamm, Sarah Goldberg, Michael C. Hall, Douglas Hodge, Fajer Kaisi, Ted Levine, Jennifer Morrison, Tim Blake Nelson, Linda Powell, Matthew Rhys, T. Ryder Smith, Corey Stoll, and Maura Tierney. -Synopsis (Amazon)

This movie (acquired by Amazon Studios) is available for free on Amazon Prime; I saw it 2x (to get a better understanding on the issues). If you follow the news/current events, have an interest in politics, and/or enjoyed The West Wing– check this movie out. This has more of a documentary-style approach, so I wouldn’t call it a typical “thriller” (as classified on IMDb). Just before filming, the original plan of 50 days shooting was cut to a 26 days; the $18 million budget was slashed to ONLY $8 million! Burns revealed that ALL the actors (incl. Driver) were paid next to nothing on this project. Burns originally planned to approach the material in a satirical Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) manner; the more he delved into the facts, he realized it had told in the most realistic fashion. The film premiered at Sundance and received a standing ovation for the real Dan Jones (who was present).

Sen. Feinstein: If it [waterboarding] works, why do you need to do it 183 times?

After completing the screenplay, Burns shared it w/ frequent collaborator, Steven Soderbergh, w/ a view as to who he’d suggest for the lead. Driver’s name came up almost immediately; Soderbergh directed Driver in Logan Lucky (2017). In 2007, Dan comes to Capitol Hill as an idealistic young man (wanting to help his country); we learn that he was a Math teacher in Baltimore w/ Teach for America (3 yrs). After 9/11, he switched his classes to national security while at grad school (Harvard). Dan gets a job working for Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), head of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He ended up working on the torture report for 5+ yrs- wow! Jones was available to provide feedback on set; Driver found this very helpful.

Gretchen (CIA Agent): You may not realize, but we were trying to protect this country from people who wanna destroy everything we believe in.

Dan: You may not realize it, but we are trying to do the exact same thing.

The term “enhanced interrogation” has no meaning under law; the tactics aren’t used by professional interrogators. It was created by the CIA to describe tactics that would otherwise be considered torture or unlawful detainee abuse. The science finds that rapport-based approaches to interrogation are the most effective, as FBI Agent, Ali Soufan (Fajer Kaisi), tells Dan when they meet in NYC. Soufan’s flashback was eye-opening and troubling. I’m now curious to see The Looming Tower, a HBO miniseries (w/ Jeff Daniels and French-Algerian actor, Tahar Rahim, as Soufan) which focuses on the FBI’s response to 9/11. The physician assistant, Raymond Nathan (Tim Blake Nelson), who came to oppose EIT, meets w/ Dan late at night in a parking garage (reminiscent of Deep Throat in All the President’s Men). The psychologists, James Mitchell (Douglas Hodge) and Bruce Jessen (T. Ryder Smith) were put in charge of not only creating and implementing the EIT program, but also evaluating its effectiveness. This is (obviously) a conflict of interest, as Dan explains to Feinstein in the 2nd hr. of the movie.

Evan (NYT Reporter): If the Times had your report, we would print it, tomorrow.

Dan: No. If it’s gonna come out, it’s gonna come out the right way.

I live just outside DC, so got a kick out of seeing Driver running past the national monuments. Then there are the (relatable) boring office buildings, basement rooms, and working on computers- LOL. Driver has a scene w/ his wife, Joanne Tucker (who he met while they were students at Julliard)! Tucker plays Gretchen (blonde CIA Agent working under the mysterious Bernadette, played by Maura Tierney); she confronts Dan and his colleague in the restaurant scene. Matthew Rhys plays Evan (the NYT national security reporter); he’s a friend of Driver who acted w/ him off-Broadway and appeared on HBO’s Girls. Corey Stoll (who also appeared on Girls) plays a lawyer, Cyrus Clifford, who Dan consults w/ after the CIA goes after him. Driver and Stoll played brothers in the comedy movie This is Where I Leave You (2014).

[1] The late Sen. John McCain gets the last word here, appropriately, with archive footage of his impassioned speech on the Senate floor regarding the necessity of forbidding the U.S. from engaging in torture, regardless of what the country’s enemies do.

[2] The cuts in time work well to put meat on the bones and helps to mix the political, ethical, and real life aspects of it. […]

It is more important than engaging though, and could have been a stronger film for embracing the complexity more than it did.

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

Official trailer for The Report.
The director and actors talk re: The Report at Sundance Film Festival with Variety magazine.

“Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013) starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, & Justin Timberlake

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Follow a week in the life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving NYC winter, he is struggling to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles — some of them of his own making. -Synopsis

The cat was a nightmare. The trainer warned us and she was right. She said, uh, “Dogs like to please you. The cat only likes to please itself.” A cat basically is impossible to train. We have a lot of footage of cats doing things we don’t want them to do, if anyone’s interested; I don’t know if there’s a market for that. -Ethan Coen

This Coen brothers movie (streaming free on Amazon) is a vehicle for Oscar Isaac, who acts (and sings) in the title role. I saw it for the 1st time last week and liked it a LOT! The Coens are experts at casting, creating different worlds, and setting mood/tone in their movies. Llewyn (handsome/talented) is NOT a V likeable character, which could be hurting his music career and his friendships. He can’t even afford a Winter coat- awww. Recently, he has been sleeping on friends’ couches or in his sister’s humble home. Mitch (Ethan Phillips) and Lillian (Robin Bartlett) Gorfein are an older/academic couple who work at Columbia; their cat follows Llewyn out of their spacious UWS apt. Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean (Carey Mulligan w/ long dark hair) are a married couple/musical duo. A promising young singer in the Army, Troy Nelson (Stark Sands), has taken their couch. Also, Jean is V angry/hostile (she has a reason to be so).

Llewyn Davis: If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song.

Joel and Ethan Coen named a character Al Cody (AKA Arthur Milgrom) as an homage to a veteran Minnesota documentary filmmaker- Al Milgrom. The Coens are from the Twin Cities area and looked up to Milgrom, who also founded a film fest. Llewyn (desperate for a break/money) gets a chance to record a song (Please Mr. Kennedy) w/ Jim and Al Cody (Adam Driver in a cowboy hat w/ short hair). Driver’s role is small, BUT it’s memorable. He sings (the funny parts of the song), says “meow” (just like a cat), and gives Llewyn his couch for the night. At an interview for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Isaac said that he watched tapes of actors (when the Coens asked his advice) and liked Driver’s audition. “He owes me his career,” Isaac joked; Driver laughed and replied w/ “thanks.” The actors are friends and attended Julliard, though Isaac graduated before Driver.

Jean: Everything you touch turns to shit, you’re like King Midas’ idiot brother.

Through Al’s friend, Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund- w/ James Dean vibes), Llewyn gets a ride to Chicago. In the backseat is an older jazz musician, Roland Turner (John Goodman), who is annoyingly chatty, offensive, yet also funny. Goodman is the type of character actor who always adds to whatever movie he does. Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham) is based on Albert Grossman, who ran the Gate of Horn club in Chicago; he also managed Bob Dylan, Peter Paul & Mary, and Janis Joplin). Llewyn sings for Grossman (re: Henry VIII and Jane Seymour); it’s a mournful song. The singing voice of Mike (Llewyn’s former music partner) is Marcus Mumford of the band Mumford & Sons. He’s now married to Mulligan; I wonder IF they met while working on this movie. Mulligan and Hedlund co-starred in Mudbound (2017) where they BOTH do a great job; check that out soon.

I think they have a common theme, even though they work in completely different ways. Specificity of story – so clear with what it is they’re after – and different opinions about how to get there. They’re kind of unanimous in that way. Just to see the Coens at the state they are in with their careers, and how they still have this relentless pursuit to to tell the best version possible, and do all their homework – it’s incredible to have been able to witness. -Driver, on working w/ the Coens

[1] The performances are certainly a major plus with Isaac doing a marvelous job in the lead role. I really loved the way he brought this character to life and especially the various moods that he goes through. This includes some very dark moments in the film but also some pretty funny ones where his mouth gets him into trouble.

[2] The ten or so minutes in that car are some of the very best. Goodman taunts and pokes (literally, using a cane) Llewyn, calling him Elwyn. He is absolutely brutal and yet hilarious. 

[3] For lead actor Oscar Isaac, this movie should be a deal-breaker in landing crucial parts in films for many years to come. Of course, he owes so much here not only to his talent, but also to his writer-director duo. The Coens are the absolute masters right now in character creation (and casting the perfect people for those characters)…

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

Adam Driver’s 1st Feature Film: “Not Waving But Drowning” (2012)

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This movie (focused on female friendship) was written/directed by a young woman, Devyn Waitt. We first see a short film titled The Most Girl Part of You, based on a short story by Amy Hempel. In the days following his mother’s suicide, a teen boy named Big Guy (Ryan Munzert) and his BFF Amy (Lili Reinhart- one of the stars of Riverdale), begin to see each other in new ways. This story is dark, yet also sweet, perhaps reminding one of first love. The second story is about moving away from family, becoming distant from an old friend, and trying to make a new life.

One summer, blonde/bubbly Adele (Vanessa Ray) leaves her small town in Florida for NYC. She’d grown tired of her boring job and the (married) man who’d been chasing her. Her brunette/reserved BFF, Sara (Megan Guinan), stays behind. Adele has a small/crappy apt in a neighborhood that looks a BIT sketchy. One of her young neighbors, Kim (Isabelle McNally), wants to be her friend. Adele (though she has gone to college) can ONLY get a job cleaning a high-rise office building. Adam (Adam Driver) is her co-worker; this isn’t a big role, but it’s an important one.

After a huge pile-up on the freeway, Sara’s cop father (Scott Bryce from As the World Turns) becomes anxious/depressed. He thinks it’s too dangerous for Sara to drive her old car; she uses her bike instead. Sara starts work at a local retirement home where she monitors the hallways and teaches art. She meets Sylvia (Lynn Cohen- best known as Magda on SATC), an older woman who flouts the rules. It turns out that Sylvia also lived in NYC and had many adventures in her young life.

Feeling lonely/bored, Adele decides to go drinking/clubbing w/ Kim. They end up on a rooftop w/ a small group; it looks like everyone is having fun. Adele and one of the young men end up kissing, then he sexually assaults her (she’s scared/verbally protests). Sadly, she can’t bring herself to confide in anyone (certainly NOT her much younger sister- or even- Sara)! Adele is V curious re: the man who leaves late at night; she sneaks into his office and starts writing on his computer. She wants to be a journalist, she tells Adam.

Finding people you can trust is often tough in a new/big city. Adam is kind, honest, and a good friend to Adele. He has longish hair and wears tees, shorts, and a messenger bag. After Kim and her friends steal beer and cigarettes from a bodega, Adam pays the clerk. He looks disappointed as he tells Adele that she doesn’t need to hang out w/ people like that. After a few mins, she returns to where he was waiting nearby. Adele decides to go on a “day date” w/ Adam in Central Park. (FYI: This is Driver’s 1st feature-length film; it was shot about 4-5 yrs before it got released.) In Frances Ha, BOTH Ray and McNally have small roles (where they act alongside Driver). You can see this movie on YouTube.

[1] Firstly, the acting was superior to many other mainstream movies… In addition, the thoughtful plot provided refreshing insight into character development for this coming of age story.

[2] Regardless of your generation or gender, there’s much to appreciate in this film about two young women moving from their adolescent lives into the wider world. […]

The characters develop through multiple experiences that are sometimes uncomfortable or worse. Yet, overall there’s so much energy, humor, and truth that the film feels very balanced. The editing and music are dynamic and keep the viewer highly engaged.

[3] I very much related to this amazingly accurate portrayal of what it’s like to move to New York to “begin your life”. It deals so well with the divide between what you want/expect and what the real world is actually like. The visuals are great…

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews



“Logan Lucky” (2017) starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, & Daniel Craig

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See how the other half steals. -A tag line for the movie

When Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) is fired from his mining job, he convinces his younger sibs- brother Clyde (Adam Driver) and sister Mellie (Riley Keough, Elvis’ granddaughter)- to help him rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway during a NASCAR event. They will need the help of Joe Bang (Daniel Craig w/ bleached blonde hair), a convicted safe-cracker who’s currently incarcerated. They have to break Joe out, blow the racetrack vault, get away w/ the cash, return Joe to prison, and get Jimmy to his daughter Sadie’s (Farrah Mackenzie) beauty pageant on time. What could go wrong!? Well, there is the Logan family curse… 

Joe: You Logans must be as simple-minded as people say.

Clyde & Jimmy: People say that?

This movie is Tatum’s 4th collab w/ director Steven Soderbergh; they worked on Haywire (2011), Magic Mike (2012), and Side Effects (2013). Keough also appeared on Magic Mike; Soderbergh directed her in S1 of the STARZ TV series The Girlfriend Experience (I saw S1). One interviewee on the news refers to the heist as “Ocean’s Seven-Eleven” re: the Ocean’s film franchise (3 of these movies were directed by Soderbergh). Several NASCAR drivers have cameos, incl. Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip (who I recognized). Moody Chapman (David Denman- a tall/burly character actor) is the 2nd hubby of Bobby Jo (Katie Holmes); he has a V different look from his recent role as Kate Winslet’s ex-hubby on Mare of Eastown (HBO).

Jimmy: We need, like, a computer wiz, like one of them Facebook boys.

Fish: I know everything there is to know about computers, okay?

Jimmy: Do you?

Fish: All the Twitters, I know ’em.

Clyde’s arm was blown off during his deployment in Iraq. Driver was supposed to deploy to Iraq, but he broke his sternum in a biking accident, so was medically discharged from the Marines. I learned that the silver/horseshoe-shaped ring worn by Cyde was the same ring worn by Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) in the TV series Justified (2010). Fish Bang (Sam Quaid) is now nearly 30; he’s the son of actors Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. One of my younger friends said to check him out on The Boys (Amazon Prime), esp. IF you enjoy a twist on the superhero/sci-fi genre. Do some of y’all feel old yet!? Domhnall Gleeson says he was jealous of younger bro Brian (who plays Sam Bang) as he got to “hang out” w/ Driver. Domhnall played Gen. Hux in the recent Star Wars sequels w/ Driver. Brian’s face is similar to their father, Brendan, a veteran character actor. Warden Burns (Dwight Yoakam- country singer/actor) provides humor (esp. for the GoT fans). Remember when Yoakam and Sharon Stone were a couple? Hilary Swank has a role here also, BUT she doesn’t come in until later in the movie.

Warden Burns: As warden, I can approve buying a copy of A Dance With Dragons for the prison library to go up on the Game of Thrones shelf. Now, the only problem is that The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring have yet to be published, so those aren’t available. Well, I can’t do anything about what I can’t control.

Driver (super fit w/ his Star Wars body/longish hair) and Tatum (a BIT bigger than usual) have easy chemistry; Clyde often looks at Jimmy before he speaks/makes a decision. Before filming, Driver (whose father’s side comes from Arkansas) said he went to Tatum’s (who grew up in West Virginia) house at 4PM; they hung out until almost 4AM -wow! Like Jimmy, Tatum played football in his youth. In one scene, Clyde (a bartender) makes a martini for Max Chiblain (Seth MacFarlane) using one hand. Like many young actors, Driver worked as a waiter: “I wasn’t a very good waiter. I remember this one fancy restaurant- they pushed me toward the bar.” The Southern accents in the movie sounded (mostly) natural. The serious/relatable themes of economic uncertainty, fairness, family obligations, and patriotism run underneath the story. Several viewers/critics noted that they enjoyed the touching relationship between Jimmy and Sadie; he is trying to be a good dad by being an active participant in her life.

[1] The names and faces associated with this film give the feeling of it being a bigger event that it probably is. I was fortunate to approach it without knowing too much about it, so I took it as I found it. This is for the better because the film is quite a simple affair in what it does.

[2] Tatum is perhaps questionable, but reasonable as the lead, Driver is good, and Craig is likeable as he puts on an American accent and looks like he’s having fun. This caper has some amusing moments, with prison and NASCAR scenes that add to it a little as well, the script is made up of one-liners, and it gets your attention at the right moments, an alright crime comedy. Worth watching!

[3] I was pleasantly surprised that the movie doesn’t dwell on mocking Southern stereotypes, and the NASCAR elements are kept largely in the background. The performances are good, with Tatum and Driver making for believable blank-faced losers who are maybe a bit sharper than they let on. Craig gets the showiest part… […] better than expected, and an enjoyable time for those not expecting too much.

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

“Paterson” (2016) starring Adam Driver & Golshifteh Farahani

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Beauty is often found in the smallest details. -A tag line for the movie

This indie film by writer/director Jim Jarmusch shows us a week in the life of a young man, Paterson (Adam Driver), living in Paterson, NJ. He lives a routine life, even waking up at exactly the same time almost every day w/o an alarm. He eats Cheerios for breakfast, walks to work (carrying a lunchbox packed by his gf), has a chat w/ co-worker Donny (Rizwan Manji- an Indian-American character actor), then starts his shift driving the #23 bus. After work, Paterson eats dinner w/ gf Laura (Golshifteh Farahani- an Iranian actress now based in Paris) and listens to the things she has done in her day. He takes Laura’s English bulldog (Marvin) out for a walk to the neighborhood bar; he has one beer and chats w/ the barkeeper, Doc (veteran character actor Barry Shabaka Henley). Two other regulars at the bar are going through a break-up; Marie (Chasten Harmon- in her film debut) says it is over, but her ex-bf Everett (William Jackson Harper from Midsommar) says he wants her back. Laura mentions a dream in which she had twins; Paterson encounters twins throughout his week. Paterson’s keen observances are the basis for the poems he writes (in his secret notebook) whenever he has a spare moment. Something that happens this week has the potential to knock his world into a tailspin.

Laura: Did you ever hear of the old Italian poet called… Petrarch? Is that it?

Paterson: Mmm, Petrarch. He perfected the sonnet.

Laura: I read online that one of his early books of poems was called The Secret Book, just like yours.

Paterson: I didn’t know that! You read that. You just happened upon it online.

Laura: And also that he wrote all his love poems to a beautiful girl called… ta da! Laura!

A woman named Laura was the muse of Petrarch, BUT she wasn’t his wife and they had limited contact, if any at all. The poems here came from Ron Padgett, one of Jarmusch’s favorite contemporary poets, who agreed to write the poems for the film and let Jarmusch use some of his pre-existing work as well. Driver underwent training to get the commercial driver’s license (CDL)! He wanted to be able to be on “auto pilot” while driving the bus; this also meant the film could feature more authentic footage, opening up for a variety of shots. He was taught over a period of 3 mos. on the busy streets of Queens, passing the test a week before filming. On the bed stand, there is a photo of a younger Paterson, during his military service; this is an actual picture of Driver from his time in the Marines. The man working out a rap song in the laundromat is Cliff Smith (AKA Method Man), a member of Wu Tang Clan. Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman both made their debuts in the Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (2012); they’re the college kids on the bus discussing anarchy.

Everett: You love somebody, more than anything in the whole damn world. You… worship her. You don’t wanna be alive without her, and… she says she doesn’t want you. You’re just… dirt.

Doc: Damn brother! You should be an actor.

Everett: [nods] I am… an actor.

[Paterson turns his head away and tries not to laugh.]

Paterson is a character-driven film; the theme (as Jarmusch commented) is the “poetry in everyday life.” The first thing I noticed was the gentle/loving/respectful relationship between Paterson and Laura. We don’t know how long they’ve been together, BUT they’re a warm and compatible couple. There is great chemistry between Driver and Farahani (who has been acting since she was a teen in Iran); you feel like they’re in love! Paterson is a good listener, while Laura is more of a talker. She has many interests: decorating/painting (esp. the black/white aesthetic), playing guitar (so maybe she could be a country singer), and baking cupcakes (to sell at the farmers market). Laura wants Paterson to share his poems w/ the world, BUT he’s hesitant. As Jarmusch noted at Cannes Film Festival, he put aspects of the actors into their characters. Also, he wanted to show that ordinary people (w/ 9-5 jobs) can choose to be creative. I liked the ending scene between Paterson and the visiting Japanese poet. If you need a quiet, low stakes, and unique film to watch- check this out!

Independent cinema is more thoughtful, delicate. While Western blockbusters can have their own kind of delicateness, it’s not delicate enough. You have to be ready to compromise to enter that field. I will do so only if it’s worth it. -Farahani on her preference for indie films

I had to tell people I was not born with a scarf because I came out of Iran. People think you came out of your mother with a scarf; they can’t imagine that the scarf is not stuck to your head. -Farahani on assumptions re: women from Muslim countries

Farahani is the 1st star (after the 1979 Iranian revolution) to act in a major Hollywood production: Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies (2008) w/ Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. After the role of Aisha (a nurse/love interest of DiCaprio’s character), she was banned from leaving Iran in February 2008, on her way to London to make a screen test for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010). This was only reported 6 mos later when Farahani could leave the country. She has been based in Paris for many years and speaks fluent English, French, and Farsi. At the Cannes press events, Farahani spoke French when journos weren’t comfortable w/ English. I noticed that several of her films are available on Amazon Prime; I may check out soon.

[1] The movie is just a character study of a gentle and honest man just finding his own path through life, one week at a time. The script and situations also provide an appropriate amount of humor.

[2] The movie is meditative, contemplative, and soothing. An offbeat treat, as per usual, for Jarmusch, and lovers of art, poetry, and low-key expressionism are likely to like this diversion from the cinema of the everyday.

Others, will need patience and acquire an appreciation for the minimal.

[3] Driver was a really good casting choice. …I quite like him as an actor and he has that whole subtlety thing going for him as he really shines when playing rather quiet characters.

[4] Paterson is one of those movies that I think captures something inherently true about the discontentment present in most everyone’s life, whether or not they want to admit it’s there. Routines aren’t necessarily bad, and one can build a quite content and even intermittently happy life out of simple pleasures, but it’s the rare person who doesn’t spend a good portion of his/her life wondering how much happier he/she might have been if she had taken it in a different direction.

-Excerpts from IMBD reviews