THE TRUTH is one of those movies that should have been much more powerful in terms of impact than it actually is. A re-telling of an ill-starred moment in CBS's media history, when the seminal program SIXTY MINUTES ran a story about George W. Bush's military service and ended up being vilified for it it, James Vanderbilt's film makes some trenchant points about the way in which commercial interests often affect the media's perception of what "truth" might be.
Yet we have heard this all before, most notably in Sidney Lumet's film NETWORK (1976), where Peter Finch gave a memorable performance as the news anchor speaking out at the end of a telecast and being judged insane as a result. In this film Robert Redford does a creditable impersonation of legendary anchor Dan Rather, whose career came to an ignoble end as a result of the scandal. In Redford's characterization, Rather comes across as a highly competent journalist, the sort of person interviewees believe they can trust, giving him the chance to get the story.
Cate Blanchett takes the other leading role as producer Mary Mapes. With her perpetually tousled hair and aggressive manner, she comes across as the stereotyped reincarnation of the Power Woman, the person who will stop at nothing to get the story. This characterization works well in the film's first half, as she puts together the piece about Bush's career, but she comes across as highly unconvincing in the more intimate scenes, especially in her exchanges with husband Robert (Conner Burke).
TRUTH includes several plot-clichés characteristic of this kind of journo-film, especially at the end, when Mary decides to go against her lawyer's recommendations and tells CBS's investigative committee precisely what she thinks of them. Nothing comes of the move, of course (except Mapes's eventual sacking), but at least viewers are left with the feelgood factor.
Throughout the movie one can't quite help feeling that commercial interests have affected its construction. Distributed by Sony Classics, a subsidiary of Columbia, which is in itself part of the same empire that includes, TRUTH is one of those films that purports to tell the truth about media censorship but actually ends up reinforcing it.
Yet we have heard this all before, most notably in Sidney Lumet's film NETWORK (1976), where Peter Finch gave a memorable performance as the news anchor speaking out at the end of a telecast and being judged insane as a result. In this film Robert Redford does a creditable impersonation of legendary anchor Dan Rather, whose career came to an ignoble end as a result of the scandal. In Redford's characterization, Rather comes across as a highly competent journalist, the sort of person interviewees believe they can trust, giving him the chance to get the story.
Cate Blanchett takes the other leading role as producer Mary Mapes. With her perpetually tousled hair and aggressive manner, she comes across as the stereotyped reincarnation of the Power Woman, the person who will stop at nothing to get the story. This characterization works well in the film's first half, as she puts together the piece about Bush's career, but she comes across as highly unconvincing in the more intimate scenes, especially in her exchanges with husband Robert (Conner Burke).
TRUTH includes several plot-clichés characteristic of this kind of journo-film, especially at the end, when Mary decides to go against her lawyer's recommendations and tells CBS's investigative committee precisely what she thinks of them. Nothing comes of the move, of course (except Mapes's eventual sacking), but at least viewers are left with the feelgood factor.
Throughout the movie one can't quite help feeling that commercial interests have affected its construction. Distributed by Sony Classics, a subsidiary of Columbia, which is in itself part of the same empire that includes, TRUTH is one of those films that purports to tell the truth about media censorship but actually ends up reinforcing it.