Doug Liman Doc digs into Brett Kavanaugh’s ratings – The Hollywood Reporter

The big news on Sundance’s opening day was the addition of Justice, an investigative documentary notable as the first foray into non-fiction cinema for major league director Doug Liman, and for the fact that his existence had been kept under wraps for over a year, with all participants signing NDA. But for anyone who has followed the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh and the disgraceful treatment of Christine Blasey Ford, who brought charges of attempted rape while in high school together in the early 80s, there will be very little here that comes close to a shocking revelation. Sure, outrage always stings, but where’s the news?

Liman and his producer and screenwriter Amy Herdy spoke after the film’s premiere of the hope that it could spark action and lead to “a real investigation with subpoena powers.” But with Kavanaugh now ensconced in a lifetime Supreme Court seat, it’s hard to imagine anything here moving the needle.

Those who found Ford’s testimony credible and were appalled by the bullying she suffered from Republican senators — not to mention the hate mail and threats to her family’s safety from Trump fanatics — will remain disgusted. Those who were willing to ignore the evidence that the evasively squirming and performatively indignant Kavanaugh was unfit to serve will hold that view, but without much new fortification.

Justice regurgitates information that was already largely in the public sphere, so its main focus will likely be to summarize for the record, albeit a professional summary bloated here and there with generically ominous music to suggest dark machinations at the highest levels of government. Big surprise.

We don’t need a replay of Donald Trump mocking Ford’s testimony at one of his rallies to remind us of the disrespect shown by the White House at the time for the whole process, and by extension, towards all victims of sexual assault. The ‘boys will be boys’ firings remain reprehensible, as do the words of those who ask why ruin a man’s entire career for something he did as a child. But none of this is new.

In favor of the film, it provides persuasive context from clinical and forensic psychologists about how trauma-related memory works, adding credibility not only to Ford’s accusations, but also those of second accuser Deborah. Ramirez, who came forward during the nomination process with her account. of Kavanaugh exposing himself to her while they were at Yale.

Ramirez appears extensively here, telling his story with courage and candor. The fact that she was a triple minority at Yale, a biracial, predominantly white male, makes her memories of being humiliated at a boozy party on campus more disturbing, with Kavanaugh’s cruel laughter lingering in her memory. .

While much of Ramirez’s background was revealed in Ronan Farrow New Yorker article, Liman’s film goes into considerable detail indicating that Kavanaugh’s circle arrived at other Yale alumni who were present during the incident and bullied them into silence. Given that a string of text alluding to contact with Kavanaugh predates the article by two months, the Supreme Court nominee appears to have perjured himself in his testimony stating that Farrow’s article was the first whose he had heard of it. But then again, is anyone really surprised at this point?

What is more unexpected is that Ford’s participation in Justice is limited to an opening shot in which she is partially out of frame, questioning Liman about her ultimate goal with the project. With everything Ford went through just to have it all swept under the rug by Republicans bent on confirming Kavanaugh’s nomination at all costs, perhaps it’s only natural that she chose to keep a cautious distance. Still, seeing Ford at the helm again if nothing else serves to jog the memory of what a travesty of justice really was.

Liman and his investigative team are to be commended for exposing how the FBI were puppets of the Trump administration, severely limiting their investigation, ignoring the vast majority of relevant information gathered on a tip line, and failing to provide only a handful of Kavanaugh-related White House documents. It is surprising, for example, that no attempt was made to interview Ramirez or the other Yale alumni seen here with incriminating memories of Kavanaugh.

The most important new evidence the film reveals is the testimony of Max Stier, a respected nonpartisan figure in Washington who is founding chairman and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. Although Stier does not appear on camera, he states in a recording that he witnessed sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh during a drunken dorm night involving another woman, who chose to stay. anonymous after seeing how Ford was treated. Again, the FBI refused to follow up on Stier’s allegations.

But that doesn’t exactly make for a searing expose. Given that Justice was presented at Sundance as a powerful indictment of a corrupt system, it turns out to be a bit of a non-event.