The Whole Truth

This is a pretty good courtroom drama, maybe not right up there with "Anatomy of a Murder" or "Presumed Innocent", but with enough twists and turns to make it stand out from the crowd.

If the film reminds me of any it is "The Lincoln Lawyer" with Matthew McConaughey.

Without giving too much away, the story involves the murder of Boone Lassiter (John Belushi) a prominent lawyer, and the attempts of another lawyer, Richard Ramsay (Keanu Reeves), to defend the person accused of the murder, Boone's son, Mike Lassiter (Gabriel Basso).

The film has an interesting cast including Renée Zellweger as Loretta Lassiter, Boone's wife. Renée Zellweger is an amazing actress who dissolves into her characters, she does it so well here that I didn't recognise her at first.

Keanu Reeves is fine as Richard Ramsay. I thought his narration was a little heavy-handed at first, but later we see how it helps set the scene for the revelation at the end.

Beautiful Gugu Mbatha-Raw, so memorable in "Belle", is a surprise as a young lawyer overcoming past issues.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but after watching hundreds of crime movies and series on television, I feel that stories with a low murder count often have more weight than serial killer dramas with corpses all over the place. Just look at any of the really good series such as "Wallander", "Jesse Stone" or "Vera" to name three; it's usually only one murder, two at the most, allowing for more complex character and story development. Shows with big murder counts, unless based on real cases, often lead to over-the-top dramas with extreme, unbelievable behaviour.

"The Whole Truth" bears this out. It is tricky with an appealing cast and a classy score by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine, which helps set the mood for this fairly intimate movie, set for the most part in either the courtroom or the bedroom where the murder took place.

It may not raise the bar to the heights of the great courtroom dramas, but "The Whole Truth" gets you in and keeps you there until it delivers a killer blow at the end.

It's nice to see Keanu Reeves in a mature role. He's capable of great subtlety in his acting, and he does a great turn in this movie. Renee Zellweger, likewise. Gugu Mbatha-Raw was terrific, doing a lot with a not very sympathetic character. Actually, everybody did a good job, including Gabriel Basso. It's really Keanu Reeves' movie, though. It was kind of low-key, which I appreciated. I don't like court-room drama novels or movies, and was pleasantly surprised.

First of all, I have to say that I am glad I skimmed through some of the other user reviews. Those "thumbs up" reviews encouraged me to take a look at this film. That, and the fact that I always love seeing Keanu on the screen. I think "The Whole Truth" is an okay movie. Nothing special, but watchable.

Secondly, I want to say that whomever it was who composed the film score is responsible---- immensely so---- for distracting me from my complete enjoyment of the film. Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle go the piano keys. It got so annoying, at times all II could think about was "Who in the heck thought this constant 'drama' music was needed?"

What really got to me, though, was how I kept thinking the kid's Mom reminded me so much of Renee Zellweger. At one point I even asked myself, "Does this actress find it hard to get work simply because she is such a dopplegänger for Zellweger?"

Hahaha. The joke is on me. IT IS Renee! I swear I didn't know, until I looked at the cast and credits. My jaw hit the ground. Wow. Oh, Renee. You and Jennifer Grey. Why? WHY?

I'm glad I didn't know during the movie, as then I would have been too focused on why in the hell Renee would have something done which would so drastically alter her appearance. I liked her the way she was.

An easy watch, you don't have to concentrate too much and I was able to check my phone, make a cup of tea etc without missing anything important. It's not a bad movie and a kind of interesting storyline, but I felt there could have been more.. or it could have been longer. It ended a bit oddly, and as a mother reviewer said, it feels like it ended in the middle of the story.

All of the characters had potential for more development, and to dig a bit deeper into their background, lives and their future. Especially the Mother, and the son. Nobody really stood out as the main characters.

Perhaps the story could have been better as a short series. I expected a bit more intensity.

Keanu reeves, renee zellweger. And a rare, more serious role for jim belushi. Ramsey is the attorney trying to defend a teenager being tried for murder, as an adult. But his client isn't talking, so this will make his defense so much more difficult than it might be. A lot happens. Surprises come out at the trial. It's the job of the jury to figure out who is telling the truth. And who is not. It's quite good. We skip over some legal points, and some presentation of evidence guidelines, but oh well. Minor details for the film, i guess. Written by nicholas kazan.. he was nominated for Reversal of Fortune. Directed by courtney hunt; nominated for Frozen River 2009.