An inconvenient truth

Nothing but the Truth

Director: Rod Lurie

Writer: Rod Lurie

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett, Alan Alda, Vera Farmiga, David Schwimmer

Runtime: 108 minutes

Certification: 15

Rating: 4/5

It’s a great shame that Yari Film Group Releasing had to declare bankruptcy just before the release of _Nothing but the Truth. _This meant that the sharply-written, well-acted, legal/political thriller would never get a proper wide release date in the States or anywhere else in the world. A film that was trying to angle an Oscar nomination for its leading lady Kate Beckinsale, that opportunity was of course thrown out the window along with any hopes of significant financial profit. A quiet DVD release was the ultimate, undeserving fate the film had to embrace and a region 2 version release in the U.K. is finally here.

Rachel Armstrong (Beckinsale) is a reporter for the Capital Sun-Times working on the biggest story of her career, a story big and powerful enough to take down the President. She has written an article outing a covert C.I.A operative Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) and her detailed mission report that was completely disregarded by the White House when ordering a military strike against Venezuela. The government, desperate to cover up their tracks, acts immediately, apprehending Armstrong, forcing her to give up her source. With her principles and journalist’s integrity on the line, she refuses to cooperate. Treated as a treasonous offense, she is held in contempt of court, ends up in jail and sparks a controversy that starts affecting her family and obviously, her career. But when it’s National Security on the line, all bets are off and she knows the government will never back down easily. It’s a battle between the First Amendment and National Security.

Inspired by the case of Judith Miller, an ex-journalist for the New York Times whose coverage of Iraq’s alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction program both before and after the invasion landed her in jail for a few months, “Nothing but the Truth” immediately benefits from having a currently relevant, intriguing source material. The topic itself can spark off a debate that can easily last for days. What’s more important? The reporter’s loyal duty of privileged and confidential information to his/her source or the country’s needs? Would you sacrifice your honour for a government that constantly lies to its citizens that ultimately lands them in more trouble than ever before? This heated political debate is forever on-going and the film leaves the audience to think for themselves. Some may end up being frustrated at Armstrong, for being so stubborn and unpatriotic, whereas others might praise her and cheer on her bravery to stand on her own two feet to fight off the manipulative forces of the government.

Director Rod Lurie, despite tackling a big controversial political argument, makes this film as much about the people involved, not the complicated subject matter. He keeps the events small-scale and intimate, more about how these characters interact with each other, and how this case starts to influence Rachel and those around her. The various characters all have individuality, no crucial character is side-lined and with no nonsense style of writing, the sharp, comprehensible, snappy dialogue builds plenty of suspense without having to extend the plot into an unmanageable size.

Beckinsale is spot-on as the protagonist, caught in a major moral dilemma, the well-known pressure of being a working mother piling up faster than ever all because of this sticky situation. On the one hand, she’s the honourable, selfless journalist trying to do the right thing, protecting the newspaper, her source but on the other hand, she has the endless temptation to come clean, to be near her beloved husband and son: Beckinsale has absolutely no trouble showing us both the strength and weakness of the character and it’s possible she would have garnered some nominations had this film been released properly.

There are many familiar faces that fill the screen. Matt Dillon, a teen idol in the 80s is the main prosecutor in charge of getting Armstrong to confess, Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett plays Armstrong’s boss at the Capital Sun-Times, supporting her employee as well as trying to protect the newspaper’s reputation, E.R.’s Noah Wyle is the legal counsel to the newspaper, Friends’ David Schwimmer, taking on his first dramatic role since 2001 is Armstrong’s husband and the legendary Alan Alda is the lawyer defending our journalist. The ensemble works to an extraordinary level with not one performance out of place or at fault. Dillon can be one smug, hateful litigator but we’re reminded that he’s doing his job in seeking justice, a man truly concerned over the welfare of the country’s National Security. Farmiga, always a reliable actress in both leading and supporting roles, shows both fear and frustration towards this whole situation that’s also making the government question her loyalty to the agency. Schwimmer’s character starts as the reliable, supportive husband but as the case drags on and on, we see him lose his faith, being disappointed in Rachel that she would choose her job over her family, and these emotions are portrayed so well by someone we only mainly knew as a comedy actor.

The final revelation, a shocking twist which turns out to be a more than plausible and satisfying explanation to Rachel’s never-ending quest to protect her source, is definitely an unexpected and intelligent one that puts a nice ending to one of the most thought-provoking and socially relevant films that disappointingly went unnoticed. There are many straight-to-DVD gems out there, ones that unfortunately did not have the right circumstances to get a wide release. This is one of those films, an unmissable, thrilling treat.