WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Ever hear the phrase “Get your facts straight!”? Often invoked when a story is shared that ends up being riddled with falsities and unproven events, ideas, and statements, the price paid for presenting something filled with untruths or unsubstantiated information can truly be devastating to those who brought everything to light and set it all forth as one thing–truth. In director James Vanderbilt’s film whose title is that same word, the consequences of such actions is shown to be all too real for “60 Minutes” Producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett), anchor Dan Rather (Robert Redford), and several members of the investigative team involved with a story forged out of firmly unconfirmed tips, data, and the reputation of a U.S. President.
It is 2004, and Mapes, Rather, plus their investigative support team consisting of Mike Smith (Topher Grace), Lt. Col. Roger Charles (Dennis Quaid), and Lucy Scott (Elizabeth Moss) put together a news piece to air based on documents provided by former Air Guard officer Lt. Col. Bill Burkett (Stacy Keach) that indicate President George W. Bush dodged the Vietnam draft with the aid of some highly placed sources. With all the evidence seemingly legit, Mapes and Rather run with it and air the show. What follows is a massive blowback as further examination of the evidence suggests forgery and false statements, soon causing Mapes to come under serious scrutiny and intense pressure from CBS management and others to justify the choices to run the story without fully verifying the facts.
Next, my Mind:
Based on Mape’s book chronicling the event, “Truth” is another major release film that has the pacing, tone, character development, and story presentation that would befit a smaller, independent effort. The additional point that these events actually occurred only makes the drama that much more engaging as we get this look inside the ramifications on people’s lives that not having all your certainties absolutely solid brings. Given the reputation a news program like “60 Minutes” had (and still does have even today), for a team of their professionalism, experience, and caliber to make the choices they did in not getting all their ducks in a row seems almost impossible to fathom. And yet, choices went forward anyway.
The teaming of Blanchett and Redford as Mapes and Rather was quite excellent, as one would guess, and they both excel in these respective roles. That is especially true for Blanchett, who superb acting chops capture every nuance of Mape’s character in going from a proudly confident Producer who found this story to the angry and simply confounded media professional who is suddenly trying to explain herself and find answers to all the hard questions she is now having to face in light of the drastic turn things take. A wonderfully adept supporting cast with Quaid, Grace, Moss, and Keach alone would suffice, but the additions of awesome character actors Bruce Greenwood and David Lyons as well makes the proceedings very whole.
A worthy film to take in, “Truth” shines that ever-revealing light on the power of decisions and the penalties that can occur when the wrong ones are made.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
