History Film / TheReport

''The Report'' is a 2018 thriller written and directed by Scott Z. Burns and produced by Creator/StevenSoderbergh.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: It's pretty clear that Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessel have no clue what they’re talking about and that their “improved” interrogation techniques are nothing of the sort. Tellingly, when Ali Soufan asks them whether they have ever participated in an interrogation of terrorists, criminals, or literally ''anyone'', Mitchell responds that he has never attended a real interrogation, yet continues to espouse how the [=EITs=] are a godsend.

* NeverMyFault: The CIA seems to have a terminal case of this. The film implies that the reason the CIA began to use torture was to cover up the fact that 9/11 could have been prevented by them. When it becomes clear [[InterrogatedForNothing the [=EITs=] don’t work]], they continue it anyway and act like it works so they don’t have to admit that they screwed up, and when Jones gets too close to releasing the report, they treat him like an ObstructiveBureaucrat for daring to point out the flaws and basic inhumanity of their methods.

* OnlySaneMan: During the torture of Zubaydah, FBI Agent Ali Soufan is the only one to realize that Mitchell and Jessel have no clue what they are talking about and that the [=EITs=] are [[InterrogatedForNothing ineffective]]. After he gets kicked off, Raymond Nathan takes up the role by being the only one to be horrified by Zubaydah’s treatment.

'''The Report''' is a 2018 thriller written and directed by Scott Z. Burns and produced by Creator/StevenSoderbergh.

!!Tropes Associated With The Report Include:

* TortureIsIneffective: Brutally deconstructed — the movie makes the point that not only does torture ''[[InterrogatedForNothing not]]'' work, it also makes it harder to prosecute the suspects who are submitted to torture due to the illegality of the practice, along with damaging the US's global position (as someone points out, captured American personnel are at greater risk for being tortured themselves if captured when their government is known to do the same).

%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Feinstein again.

* TortureAlwaysWorks: Brutally deconstructed — the movie makes the point that not only does torture ''[[InterrogatedForNothing not]]'' work, it also makes it harder to prosecute the suspects who are submitted to torture due to the illegality of the practice.

* BlatantLies: the whole justification for the CIA's use of torture is shown to be built on the false identification of one prisoner as a high-ranking member of Al Quaeda.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Its pretty clear that Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessel have no clue what they’re talking about and that their “improved” interrogation techniques are nothing of the sort. Tellingly, when Ali Soufan asks them whether they have ever participated in an interrogation of terrorists, criminals, or literally ''anyone'', Mitchell responds that he has never attended a real interrogation, yet continues to espouse how the [=EITs=] are a godsend.

* NeverMyFault: The CIA seems to have a terminal case of this. The film implies that the reason the CIA began to use torture was to cover up the fact that 9/11 could have been prevented by them, when it becomes clear [[InterrogatedForNothing the [=EITs=] don’t work]], they continue it anyway and act like it works so they don’t have to admit that they screwed up, and when Jones gets too close to releasing the report, they treat him like an ObstructiveBureaucrat for daring to point out the flaws and basic inhumanity of their methods.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Feinstein again.

* TheWarOnTerror: Analyzes the fallout and cost of how the CIA fought it.

* AmoralAttorney: CIA General Counsel John Yoo, who approved the use of torture and infamously determined that the President could legally order a child's testicles to be crushed "to stop a plane from crashing into a building".
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Daniel avoids prosecution and is able to complete and release the report, which led to the [=McCain=]-Feinstein bill outlawing the practices described being passed and signed. However, the report is heavily redacted and not only were none of the people involved prosecuted, many were ''promoted''.]]

* CIAEvilFBIGood: the FBI is portrayed as being more concerned with legality and prisoner care, in contrast with the CIA who are looking for excuses to torture prisoners.

* GovernmentProcedural: the movie delves deep into the nitty-gritty of how Senate investigations operate.

* NeverMyFault: The CIA seems to have a terminal case of this. The film implies that the reason the CIA began to use torture was to cover up the fact that 9/11 could have been prevented by them, when it becomes clear the [=EITs=] don’t work they continue it anyway and act like it works so they don’t have to admit they screwed up, and when Jones gets too close to releasing the report they treat him like an ObstructiveBureaucrat for daring to point out the flaws and basic inhumanity of their methods.

* OnceMoreWithClarity: Early in the movie, Jones leaves the facility he works at, and it's implied he stole (or "relocated"; see InsistentTerminology above) something from there. When we see the scene later in the movie, we see it was [[spoiler:the report inside the CIA condemning the "enhanced interrogation techniques" they were using]].
* OnlySaneMan: During the torture of Zubaydah, FBI Agent Ali Soufan is the only one to realize that Mitchell and Jessel have no clue what they are talking about and that the [=EITs=] are ineffective. After he gets kicked off, Raymond Nathan takes up the role by being the only one to be horrified by Zubaydah’s treatment.

* TortureAlwaysWorks: Brutally deconstructed - the movie makes the point that not only does torture ''not'' work, it also makes it harder to prosecute the suspects who are submitted to torture due to the illegality of the practice.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: One CIA Agent that approaches Jones claims this about the EITs, and insults him for trying to expose them.

* KnowNothingAtAll: Its pretty clear that Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessel have no clue what they’re talking about and that their “improved” interrogation techniques are nothing of the sort. Tellingly, when Ali Soufan asks them whether they have ever participated in an interrogation of terrorists, criminals, or literally ''anyone'', Mitchell responds that he has never attended a real interrogation, yet continues to espouse how the EITs are a godsend.

* NeverMyFault: The CIA seems to have a terminal case of this. The film implies that the reason the CIA began to use torture was to cover up the fact that 9/11 could have been prevented by them, when it becomes clear the EITs don’t work they continue it anyway and act like it works so they don’t have to admit they screwed up, and when Jones gets too close to releasing the report they treat him like an ObstructiveBureaucrat for daring to point out the flaws and basic inhumanity of their methods.

* OnlySaneMan: During the torture of Zubaydah, FBI Agent Ali Soufan is the only one to realize that Mitchell and Jessel have no clue what they are talking about and that the EITs are ineffective. After he gets kicked off, Raymond Nathan takes up the role by being the only one to be horrified by Zubaydah’s treatment.

* CIAEvilFBIGood: the FBI is portrayed as being more concerned with legality and prisoner care, in contrast with the CIA who are looking for excuses to torture prisoners.

* DeadlyEuphemism: "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" is explicitly used as a way of redefinition techniques that would otherwise be called "torture".
* CIAEvilFBIGood: the FBI is portrayed as being more concerned with legality and prisoner care, in contrast with the CIA who are located for excuses to torture prisoners.

* ColdBloodedTorture: its use by the CIA is the focus of the investigation.

* AmoralAttorney: CIA General Counsel John Yoo, who approved the use of torture and infamously determined that the President could legally order a child's testicles to be crushed "to stop a plane from crashingly into a building".

* CIABadFBIGood: the FBI is portrayed as being more concerned with legality and prisoner care, in contrast with the CIA who are located for excuses to torture prisoners.

* FBIGoodCIABad: the FBI is portrayed as being more concerned with legality and prisoner care, in contrast with the CIA who are located for excuses to torture prisoners.

* JurisdictionalFriction: When then-Attorney General Eric Holder opens an investigation into the CIA's use of torture, it ends the Agency's cooperation with the Senate investigation. In addition, it causes all Republican Senators and their staffers to pull out. This substantially hampers the ability of the investigation to do its work.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Pretty much everybody, but most notably Senator Dianne Feinstein and then-CIA director James Brennan.

It tells the [[BasedOnATrueStory true story]] of the 2012 Senate investigation into the CIA's use of torture in the wake of 9/11. Creator/AdamDriver stars as Daniel J. Jones, an idealistic staffer for California Senator Dianne Feinstien (Creator/AnnetteBening) tasked with leading the investigation and uncovering the evidence and discover the lengths to which the government went to shield themselves from accountability.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Pretty much everybody, but most notably Senator Dianne Feinstien and then-CIA director James Brennan.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Feinstien again.

* DuellingFilms: With ''Film/TheLaundromat'', another fact-based investigative procedural written by Scott Z. Burns.