Nothing But the Truth, 2008.
Director Rod Lurie.
Starring Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett, Alan Alda, Vera Farmiga, David Schwimmer, Courtney B. Vance, and Noah Wyle.
SYNOPSIS:
In Washington, D.C., a female reporter faces a possible jail sentence for outing a CIA agent and refusing to reveal her source.
Nothing But the Truth is a 2008 political/courtroom drama starring Kate Beckinsale as Rachel Armstrong, a reporter threatened with imprisonment for her refusal to reveal the source of a highly sensitive political story to the US government. Supported by an ensemble cast including Matt Dillon and David Schwimmer, the film details the lengths to which Armstrong will go to protect her journalistic integrity and the consequences her actions have for her personal life and those tasked with both prosecuting and defending her case.
Writer-director Rod Lurie attempts to craft a film that views the traditionally testosterone-fuelled world of high level politics from a strongly feminine perspective, but the end result feels too thinly spread across its wide range of themes to be truly engaging. Nothing But the Truth doesn’t present itself as a mere courtroom drama; there are also explorations of the principles and limits of freedom of speech, the volatile relations between government and media and societal expectations of women. This latter thread is given the most time to breathe but still feels flat and underdeveloped; although much of early tension is between Armstrong and Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga), revealed as a CIA operative as part of Armstrong’s controversial news story, the film is too busy jumping from theme to theme to flesh out an understanding of the difficulties of juggling work and home life for either woman or a sense of their relationships to their families.
The film leaves the distinct impression that the writer believes that merely vaguely alluding to such issues through dialogue from the central female characters add another dimension of depth, when in truth the lack of substance becomes a major issue when the potential loss of family and security as a result of the intense demands of professional life are sold as being so central to the drama.
Character motivations are often unrealistic at best and baffling at worst and the film resorts on occasion to telling, rather than showing, the audience what to think as a way to hang the narrative together. Pacing is also problematic – ironically for a film that runs under two hours and seeks to cram in so many big ideas, there are meandering scenes of little substance that fail to advance the plot or flesh out the characters and the pruning of these would’ve allowed more time for the drama to develop organically without the need for the film’s emotional flashpoints to feel so rushed and heavy handed.
Nothing But the Truth is the sort of film that draws the viewer in with the promise that the final reveal will be satisfying enough to save the two hours that preceded it but ultimately the finale fails to alleviate the lack of suspension of disbelief that disengages from any emotional connection. Kate Beckinsale gives a strong performance in the lead role and the notion of drama with such a deep, multifaceted subtext is admirable, but the film is unfortunately less than the sum of its parts and does not deserve a place at the top table of political thrillers.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Ryan O’Neill
Originally published May 20, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
