Truth

Cate Blanchett stars as Mary Mapes, producer of the CBS 60 minutes programme hosted by Dan Rather (Robert Redford), in Truth. The story takes place during the Killian documents scandal when allegations arose that George Bush Jr went AWOL during the Vietnam War to dodge the draft. The controversy gets out of hand causing the resignation of Dan Rather as anchor of CBS news, and the dismissal of Mapes as producer. The film is based on the book by Mapes titled Truth and Duty: The Press, the President and the Privilege of Power.

There are multiple messages the film tries to get across. One could be that people in positions of power can get away with certain things pretty easily. Another is that people can take advantage of the chaos that ensues after the outcry of a loud minority on the internet, with the help of other media outlets, to distract from the main story. The main theme, I would say, is that bullies come in all forms, and can be highly destructive.

I think that the film-makers wanted to elicit from their audience opinions about power imbalance and accountability, and maybe even sensationalism. Clearly the other news agencies depicted in the movie were guilty of sensationalist behavior. Perhaps the writers and directors and actors wanted to simply tell a true story about a brilliant journalist who had to struggle very hard to combat the gravity of hyped up nonsense. It was an insult to Mapes' professionalism to have to deal with lame bloggers who weren't accountable to anything (assuming this is even true). Maybe that's the movie's biggest flaw. I don't know what it wanted me to believe. I'm not going to think that Mapes and Rather were innocent just because Quaid whispered a cliché monologue about why they're so compatible with each other (the plane scene).

An original draft of this review had me ranting about the political landscape of 2005. I (sort of?) learned about an important part of American media history. But the focus of the film kept changing. Some themes would come and go while others would resurface in little intervals (three to be exact). For example, the movie started out strong, with high hopes about evidence of the scandal being strong and hard hitting. Then quickly the plot takes a 90-degree turn, and now we're watching Mapes struggling to resolve one measly discrepancy that's grabbing all the media attention. After that disaster subsides, we begin watching a movie about a corporate investigation into false journalism. The storytelling was incoherent, finding myself with unanswered questions as the next big event came.

Most of my questions regarded the documents. The technical military jargon in the dialogue was difficult to follow, adding to the confusion. I found myself repeatedly asking: "who's that guy? Why is he mentioned all of the sudden? John Kerry was a thing back then?" That last question speaks to my ignorance, but still, the dialogue was clunky.

If you watch the film conscious of the underlying theme, it'll be less painful. The theme whose undertones influences all of Mapes' actions is her relationship with her abusive father. She admits at one point that he's the reason she needs to stand up to bullies. And in each of the three stages described above, that is precisely her motivation. First, she "asks questions" about a possibly incriminating aspect of Bush Jr's military history. But what happens? The bully strikes her down. She fights back by proving that the stupid discrepancy wasn't a problem after all. All is good, except now everyone forgot what the story was about. The bully returns with an investigation into her conduct. She didn't do anything inherently wrong (she makes some mistakes though), but she's treated with a disproportionate level of scrutiny. Meanwhile, a man who possibly went AWOL during wartime is winning a presidential election.

When you go to watch the movie, perceive it as a series of acts, like in a play. Act one, the scandal gets out. Act two, the haters launch their attack. Act three, the investigation. On a road which begins with covering the news, and ends with covering your butt, one thing holds; bullies suck.

I'm not watching it again, C grade

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"Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism." Hunter S. Thompson

Every journalism student should see Truth, a true version of a true event that included liberal CBS; liberal anchor, Dan Rather (Robert Redford); and liberal producer for 60 minutes, Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett). The latter two sacrificed their jobs possibly for the ideal of bringing down George W. Bush in his campaign to become president for the second time.

The journalists thought they had a story about Bush slacking in his National Guard tour, but what they had was forged documents that eventually cost them their jobs and credibility. Mapes was the prime agent of the fiasco, pushing to get a story on 60 Minutes when it was too close to deadline and more substantiation was needed for the source and his documents.

First-time director and seasoned-writer James Vanderbilt takes an almost cool approach, not quite as weighty as All the President's Men or as frenetic; the journalists young and old struggle with the profession's verity: Vet your stories and your sources until they bleed truth. Mapes and her vigilantes are up against a deadline, so more verifying of documents and sources is not possible. Thus, they should not have run with the story, but they did. Dan Rather, for all his experience as CBS news anchor, should not have trusted in Mapes' research, but he did.

Most of all they should not have trusted Lt. Colonel Bill Burkett (Stacy Keach), who provided the documents purporting to show Bush's slacking. Because Burkett was a known liar and fervent Kerry supporter, no one should have trusted him before corroborating his information. Journalism students, beware of cutting corners on the road to truth. The film is an excellent primer on best practices.

Truth is a classy, almost unbiased rendition of a true story, an entertaining thriller filled with first-rate actors. If there is one flaw, I submit for your consideration that the film is too reverent of Mapes and Rather, who made a blunder unworthy of their status and experience. They are more heroic than they deserve. As cautionary players on the big media stage, they are the finest examples of flawed human beings.

"I think journalism gets measured by the quality of information it presents, not the drama or the pyrotechnics associated with us." Bob Woodward

Truth is a thoughtful, subtle, quietly powerful movie - something you don't see much of these days. Yes, it's about the rights of wrongs of a journalistic investigation, part All The President's Men, part Shattered Glass. But it is also charts what has happened to news in recent decades, in particular how it has become a game of "Gotcha!", as the real issues, arguments and truths get lost in superficialities that better lend themselves to headlines and 30-second grabs, and how the news agenda is buffeted by politics, corporate demands and entertainment values. The films chief assets are a smart, snappy screenplay and an another astoundingly nuanced performance by Cate Blanchett. If she had not won an Oscar nomination for her riveting performance in Carol, then she should surely have been nominated for Truth.

NO SPOILERS- The story, script and direction keep this movie moving along at a decent pace which is a good thing because it's excruciating to look at Redford(who looks 90)as Dan Rather- I think someone else should have been cast for this part. BUT(and that's a big but), watch this movie to see Cate perform, who I am becoming convinced has taken the field, and is now the best female actor in the business.

"Truth" is one film that's not great still it's an eye opening film that makes you think as each and every viewer must inform his or her own call no matter how you see the issue or what political side of the table your on. It questions in today's modern world of media do or can we really as people believe and trust documents and phone conversations and word of mouth. It pays so much to investigate and dig and dig real deep for information for sure when it involves a president's war record and service time and it's critical to get it right just before the reelection campaign of the one in question. Anyway you know the facts and this film portrays the real life story of the newsroom drama that took place in 2004 as it involved the report on President George W. Bush's military service record and brought to light was he really present or away on some of his air national guard service and was he a draft get away guy of war was he a son of special privilege. All of this in question would bring down and cut short the jobs of CBS news producer Mary Mapes(Cate Blanchett) and CBS legend evening news anchor and reporter Dan Rather(Robert Redford). Overall a film that grips with drama and searches for answers still you the viewer make you own call about right or wrong or "Truth".