Truth

Overview

Everybody loves a good procedural. Meticulously charting the steps of an investigation can be as immersive as it is thrilling; there's a reason that serial killer flicks and cop shows prefer the approach, after all. Truth applies the style to a tale of media troubles, tracking a group of US journalists trying to cover a story of national significance. Unfortunately, while the film sticks to the formula of chasing leads and piecing together a puzzle, it does so in a standard and heavy-handed fashion.

It's a disappointing outcome, and surprising for two reasons. The first is that the real-life circumstances that inform the feature — the incident that ended the careers of seasoned news producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) and veteran news anchor Dan Rather (Robert Redford) — are both complicated and compelling. The second is that although filmmaker James Vanderbilt is sitting in the director's chair for the first time, he previously wrote the script for David Fincher's Zodiac, one of the best procedural efforts ever made.

With Truth, he offers an account of a controversial report about then-President George W. Bush's military record, which aired on American TV's 60 Minutes in 2004. Mapes, Rather and their team (played by the likes of Topher Grace, Dennis Quaid and Elisabeth Moss) burrowed into rumours and leaked memos surrounding the President's service with the Texas Air National Guard in the 1970s and the preferential treatment he might have received, only to be subjected to accusations of factual inaccuracy and political bias in the aftermath of the broadcast.

Much of the enjoyment of procedurals stems from the journey on which they take the audience, letting us watch as details are discovered and dots are joined together. Alas, in adapting Mapes' memoir Truth and Duty: The Press, the President and the Privilege of Power, Vanderbilt renders Truth an exercise in telling rather than showing. Everything of importance is spelled out multiple times, and speeches about the downfall of the media are given more weight and emphasis than the minutiae of the investigation. The underlying situation remains fascinating, as does the statement the film makes, but the former too often feels like a tool for the latter.

Thank goodness for Blanchett, who channels both the vulnerability of her Oscar-winning portrayal in Blue Jasmine and the steeliness of her performance in Elizabeth. The crusading film she's in might largely go through the motions, but the same could never be said for her. Redford, too, is expectedly strong, playing Rather with weariness and wisdom. Sadly, the rest of the cast is relegated to sidekick roles and bit parts, a symptom of Vanderbilt's blunt focus. That said, Noni Hazlehurst stands out among a bunch of local talent that also includes Rachael Blake, Andrew McFarlane, Steve Bastoni, Martin Sacks and Nicholas Hope. Turns out the movie was actually shot in Sydney: the biggest surprise in a movie that lacks them otherwise.