Film: Nothing But the Truth

Cast includes: Kate Beckensale (Underworld), Matt Dillon (Crash), Angela Bassett (Akeelah and the Bee), Alan Alda (The West Wing), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), David Schwimmer (Friends)
Writer/director: Rod Lurie (The Contender)
Genre: Political/legal/drama (2008)

In brief: After President Lyman’s assignation attempt, the conspiracy is traced to Venezuela. That leads to a retaliatory attack on targets in Venezuela. Back in Washington, we catch up with Rachel Armstrong… mother and reporter for the Sun Times. Rachael has a major story in the works. It involves the mother of another child in Rachael’s son’s class. A secret source has identified Erica Van Doren as a CIA agent. But that’s not the whole story. Rachael has learned that Erica sent a memo to the President, saying that Venezuela was not involved in the assignation attempt, but the memo was ignored.

All hell breaks loose when the article appears on the front page of the Sun Times. Suddenly CNN and all the other networks are on the story. But that’s not the worst of it. Patton Dubois is being named special prosecutor on a mission to learn Rachael’s source. But Rachael isn’t going to compromise on her principles, and she’s not revealing her source. “Look Rachael, you’re within your rights not to reveal your sources, but you’re not within your rights to protect someone who committed treason by outing a CIA agent.” Not only is Rachael in a tight spot, Erica isn’t finding it easy dealing with allegations that she might have been the source.

While this film was obviously inspired by the Valerie Plame incident, it quickly becomes a different story. There’s the expected battle of a reporter’s principles and integrity against the power of the US government. But eventually, it’s a story about people. There are a lot of story elements in this movie that are not unexpected. But the film makes us look deeply at each character and the choices he or she makes. Even if we already have a point of view on the issues, there are no easy answers… and no choices without consequences.

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