TRUE STORY
Fox Searchlight/ Regency Enterprises
Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes.
Grade: A-
Director: Rupert Goold
Screenwriter: David Kajganich, Rupert Goold, from Michael Finkel’s book “True Story”
Cast: James Franco, Jonah Hill, Felicity Jones
Screened at: Dolby88, NYC, 3/23/15
Opens: April 17, 2015
If you are a journalist or aspire to be one, “True Story” should be on your must-see list. More important than a tale about the writing of books and articles, though, is the human story, one that could make cynics and pessimists in the audience beam with pride about their understanding of human nature. “True Story” is a yarn about manipulation, one that may even emphasize that manipulators are easily manipulated, or to put the theme more succinctly, “It takes one to know one.” It helps quite a bit that director Rupert Goold, in his debut on the big screen, contributes a quiet but riveting reconstruction of a relationship between an accused murderer and a disgraced reporter. Nor does it hurt his film that this is mostly a two-hander between two A-list actors, Jonah Hill and James Franco, who are buddies in real life yet convince us in the audience that have met for the first time in prison.
Based on Michael Finkel’s best-seller “True Story,” the film, co-written by David Kajganich, takes us to Cancun, Mexico, where Christian Longo (James Franco) is on the lam from federal authorities, who have named him among the top ten fugitives from American justice. Longo, who was using Mike Finkel’s name while on the run (he admires the guy’s writing), is accused of murdering his entire family—wife and three children—at least one of whom had been squeezed with favorite toys into a small valise and dumped into the river. When caught by the authorities, however, he denies guilt, which presents the possibility of a great article or, a short time later, a book by the real Mike Finkel (Jonah Hill)—who had been fired by the New York Times for deliberately combining a story involving five Africans exploited and beaten as slaves into a single person. (From where I’m sitting, the Times had gone overboard in dismissing a guy who produced ten magazine cover stories for the Gray Lady, this last one adding extra drama by pretending that the five subjects are actually one. It’s not as though he sat in his living room, making up a tale of traveling to a dangerous part of the continent, as did one other New York Times reporter, Jason Blair, who plagiarized and fabricated his reportage.)
Having manipulated the truth, Mike is all too trusting when he visits Chris Longo in jail, becoming convinced that the accused killer may be innocent—perhaps covering for the real killer or maybe guilty at most of manslaughter. And given Chris’s steadfast calm demeanor, gentle brown eyes, and reputation as an exemplary prisoner, who could have seen through a barrage of lies?
Philosophically, journalist Mike Finkel believes he can learn something about himself from the man who stole his identity, a stretch at best, but one who has validity principally as the meeting of two people who live parts of their lives by manipulating others, or, as Mike’s significant other, Jill (Felicity Jones) would label Chris, a model of narcissism.
In photographing the two principals, Masanobu Takayangi relies strongly on close-ups, revealing little tics like fidgeting hands. Occasionally director Goold flashes back to the crime scene, but those attempts are a more-or-less irrelevant part of the story. This is no “Law and Order” or “NCIS,” but a psychological study of two people who share significant personality traits just as, at one time, they share the same name and profession.
With both actors performing against type—Jonah Hill in particular is known for melodramatic roles in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” about a financial tycoon, and “Moneyball,” about the use of technology in baseball—“True Story” is a gripping, fascinating film, a psychological thriller without the melodrama we associate with highly commercial works.
Rated R. 104 minutes. © Harvey Karten, Member, New York Film Critics Online
Story – B+
Acting – A-
Technical – B+
Overall – A-
