Plot: What’s it about?
Truth tells the fact-based story of Dan Rather and a scandal that ultimately led to him being relieved of his duty as a CBS news anchor. Rather and Producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) questioned George Bush’s military service. Here, Rather is played by Robert Redford and it should come as no surprise that he’s basically playing himself. Redford doesn’t look a thing like Rather, and the film make no attempt at trying to fool us. Speaking of fooling us, the film is overly complicated with endless exposition and characters that seem to come and go without much development. It’s a fairly uninvolving film that keeps the audience at arm’s length while it goes through the motions.
Since I’ve never had an interest in politics, I can’t say I was particularly looking forward to this film. Now that I’ve seen the film, that lack of interest hasn’t changed. It’s possible for a film to feature a subject matter that isn’t of particular interest and make it accessible. That doesn’t happen here. I think the basic problem is that the story doesn’t necessarily lend itself to translating to an interesting film. I’d much rather watch a documentary on this subject matter as opposed to a sloppy film of this sort that’s all over the map. There’s a clear similarity here to the politically driven films of the 70’s. I think the basic problem, however, is that we’re never given much to latch onto. The film simply throws us into the mix and doesn’t seem to care if we are invested or not.
Video: How’s it look?
While it’s nice to see Robert Redford still in films, he’s clearly (pardon the pun) showing his age and the clarity of the disc isn’t doing him any favors. Then again, I doubt he really cares what he looks like these days. Sony’s Blu-ray’s are hard to beat and this 2.40:1 AVC HD image is second to none when it comes to color depth, clarity and overall detail. Cate Blanchett’s curls, Redford’s skin texture and everything in between look so real and lifelike, I felt I was in the news station there with them. While a few scenes seemed a bit shaky in the lower light areas, they were few and far between. Overall it’s a great-looking transfer and one that fans will certainly enjoy.
Audio: How’s it sound?
This isn’t much on the audio front as it’s essentially a dialogue-driven film with some exceptions here and here. The front stage handles the majority of the sound while the surrounds provide some much needed ambiance for a little depth. There’s really not a lot else to say here as it certainly delivers the goods and doesn’t disappoint – then again it’s not something that’s terribly memorable either.
Supplements: What are the extras?
DVD Extras
- Featurette: The Team – A general look at the cast of the film.
- Q&A with Cate Blanchett, Elisabeth Moss and James Vanderbilt – As the name entails, this is a pretty straight-forward question and answer session with Blanchett, Moss and director Vanderbilt.
- Audio Commentary – Director James Vanderbilt, Producers Brad Fischer and William Sherak take themselves a bit too seriously at times, but it doesn’t mean that its not an interesting track. Given the subject matter, there’s a lot that’s ripped from the headlines and this commentary actually does provide a bit of clarification.
Blu-ray Exclusives
- Deleted Scenes
- Featurette: The Reason For Being – Another featurette that takes itself a bit too seriously, but has some tidbits of information as well as some cast and crew interviews.
The Bottom Line
Complicated and uninvolving, Truth doesn’t seem to care if the viewer is with the story or not. There’s endless exposition and little excitement. For those with even a passing interest in this topic, try researching it rather than wasting time on this film.
