Director, Writer, Producer James Vanderbilt is familiar with wearing numerous hats when at the helm ("The Amazing Spiderman" series, "Zodiac"). However, in this venture, featuring Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Elizabeth Moss and Stacy Keach (to name a few), he is less successful. Based on CBS 60 Minutes Producer Mary Mapes book "Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power," which chronicles the 2004 experience of Mapes' and Dan Rather's report investigating then-President George W. Bush's military service, the film lacks intrigue, scenes are very segmented, several exterior shots are obvious "green screened," and the quality of acting expected from this worthy cast is inadequate. While "TRUTH" does provide a unique look into the behind-the-scenes working of how a news story makes it to the public (be it Mapes' interpretation of the events), Vanderbilt got too caught up in the investigation aspect of the story and his writing/storytelling suffered. "TRUTH" is one of those films where the sum of it's parts are not greater then the whole experience.
Review of Truth
