For the rest of the year it’s going to be very hard avoiding Adam Driver on the big screen. He’ll be all over the place as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but also finds himself in the middle of the awards race for two movies. First is Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, in which he stars alongside Scarlett Johansson. And then there’s his starring role as real-life investigator Daniel Jones in The Report, a political thriller he’s been earning rave reviews for since it debuted nine months ago at Sundance.
It’s clear Amazon has very big plans for The Report, riding high on the buzz generated by Scott Z. Burns’ investigative thriller and Driver’s performance. It was, along with The Farewell, one of only two films I saw at Sundance that immediately felt like a Best Picture contender. The subject matter is deep and disturbing, centering on Jones’ look into the CIA’s secret torture program following 9/11. Driver’s one of the most intense actors around and it’s perfect in capturing Jones’ dogged investigation in the face of overwhelming and powerful opposition.
Joining Driver in the cast are Annette Bening as Senator Dianne Feinstein, plus Jon Hamm, Maura Tierney, Jennifer Morrison, Tim Blake Nelson, Ben McKenzie, Michael C. Hall, and Corey Stoll.
I do worry whether audiences want to be reminded of one of our government’s ugliest, most criminal actions given the things going on in the White House right now. Here’s hoping Driver and The Report aren’t overlooked. The film opens in select theaters on November 15th, followed by Amazon Prime on November 29th.
