Straight, stark, to the point. Takes ten or so minutes to warm into, but soon enough harnesses a quiet excitement. It's the same kind of excitement that stirs in a film about an underdog football team that challenges the standing champions. But, it's not so visual, imagine the chess team sitting in the closet with a flashlight going over moves to trip up the enemy.

Rides on a subtle exhilaration of daring to do something that you know will open you, make you vulnerable. But you do that thing anyway, because you know in your heart that it is exactly the thing to do. You know it so strongly, that if you don't do it, you might be safe, secure, comfortable, but you will lose something precious, something self-defining, something whose loss will make security feel pointless.

Maybe that thing is telling your boss to take a hike, maybe that thing is calling the police on an abusive spouse, maybe that thing is letting yourself fall in love. In this film, that thing is telling a powerful US senator that he has stepped out of bounds, that his personal quest for security is damaging the very thing, the very essence of that which he seeks to protect.

In that respect, I'm not surprised by the release of this film in this current time in American history -- and I applaud the reminder.

So why only a B+ and not an A? As a film -- an entertainment piece, the work fails to fully mature and climax. Clooney as director initiates a disciplined momentum that terminates too soon. Film reviews seldom say this, but the production could have used another full 10-20 minutes more impacting footage at the tail end.

Still a good film. And I'm glad to see David Strathairn highlighted, he's a fine actor, I loved his performance in "Lost in Yonkers."

This film screened at a Laemmle Theatre.