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Truth (2015 film)

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Truth
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Vanderbilt
Written byJames Vanderbilt
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMandy Walker
Edited byRichard Francis-Bruce
Music byBrian Tyler
Distributed bySony Pictures Classics
Release dates
  • September 12, 2015 (2015-09-12) (TIFF)
  • October 16, 2015 (2015-10-16) (United States)
Running time121 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$76,646

Truth is a 2015 American political docudrama film written and directed by James Vanderbilt, his directorial debut. It is based on American journalist and television news producer Mary Mapes' memoir Truth and Duty: The Press, the President and the Privilege of Power. The film focuses on the Killian documents controversy and the last days of news anchor Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes at CBS News. It stars Cate Blanchett as Mapes and Robert Redford as Rather.

Truth had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. It is released in the United States by Sony Pictures Classics, beginning in limited release on October 16, 2015.

Plot

Mary Mapes, producer of the primetime news program 60 Minutes Wednesday, her crew, and eminent CBS national news anchor Dan Rather face an onslaught by right-wing bloggers, talk radio, and Bush Administration supporters following the airing, in the months before the US 2004 presidential election, of a report that President George W. Bush, then seeking re-election, had in the early 1970s received preferential treatment from officials of the Texas Air National Guard. Such treatment, which included concealing Bush's failure to meet even minimal training and performance requirements, and his absence from the Air Guard for most of 1972 following a transfer to the Alabama Air National Guard, allowed Bush to avoid combat duty during the latter part of the Vietnam War. It also caused consternation for Bush's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Killian, who died years before the 2004 election campaign. Lieutenant Colonel Killian allegedly authored three contemporaneous memoranda to be maintained in a general file, but not directed to higher ranking officers, detailing Bush's failures to meet the Guard's standards and the pressure Killian felt to facilitate the favoritism shown Bush.

The controversy resulted from a report which appeared on a right-wing blog, which various talk radio hosts and right-wing media outlets amplified, claiming certain characteristics of the memos, including the font, proportional spacing of the letters and lines, and use of "superscript" indicated the memos were created on a home computer using the Microsoft Word processing program, and could not have been typed on typewriters available at the time in the early 1970s.

Cast

Production

The film is based on Mary Mapes' 2005 memoir Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power. It is produced by Mythology Entertainment. The film had been in development since 2007. In July 2014, it was announced that Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett would portray veteran CBS News anchor Dan Rather and 60 Minutes Wednesday producer Mary Mapes, respectively. In September 2014, Elisabeth Moss joined the cast as CBS associate producer Lucy Scott, and Dennis Quaid was cast as Colonel Roger Charles. Topher Grace and John Benjamin Hickey joined the film in October, as researcher Mike Smith, and Mark Wrolstad, Mapes' husband, respectively. Bruce Greenwood was cast as Andrew Heyward, president of CBS News. In November, David Lyons was added to the cast as Josh Howard, 60 Minutes executive producer and Mapes' supervisor. Mandy Walker is the cinematographer, and Fiona Crombie is production designer. Brian Tyler scored the film.

The film's production budget is under $15 million.

Filming

Production began in October 2014 in Sydney, Australia, with filming scheduled for eight weeks during the Australian spring.

Release

On May 18, 2015, it was announced that Sony Pictures Classics had acquired United States distribution rights. The film was selected to be screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015, and was selected as the Opening Night film of the 23rd Hamptons International Film Festival. The film was released in the United States on October 16, 2015.

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 67% approval rating based on reviews from 43 critics, with an average rating of 6.3 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states: "Truth's terrific cast and compelling message are often enough to overcome its occasionally didactic and facile dramatization of a nuanced real-life tale." On Metacritic, the film has received a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Response from CBS

In September, a source close to the film said CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves did not approve of the film, but did not ask producers for major changes. A source at CBS said it was not planning on publicly condemning the film. In October, Gil Schwartz, the chief spokesman for CBS who is depicted in the film, said "It's astounding how little truth there is in Truth. There are, in fact, too many distortions, evasions and baseless conspiracy theories to enumerate them all. The film tries to turn gross errors of journalism and judgment into acts of heroism and martyrdom." Andrew Heyward, president of CBS News at the time of the scandal and also depicted in the film, made a similar statement and added "Only Hollywood could come up with that." On October 16, 2015, it was reported that CBS banned advertisements of the film, which CBS said would "offend longtime CBS News employees." Some at CBS News are disgruntled with the film's implication that news executives were pressured to revoke the story by corporate owner Viacom, which "had business reasons to maintain friendly relations with the Bush administration."

Response from film's producer

Brad Fischer, one of the film's producers, said that a negative response from CBS was not unexpected, but what was surprising is the "tone and the emotional nature" of the response. "The events depicted in Truth are still vigorously debated, and that’s a good thing", he said, adding that it's a "fascinating story at the intersection of politics, media and corporate America" and that he hopes people "talk about the issues and ask the questions themselves...I don't think it's our job as filmmakers to draw a conclusion, but rather to pose the questions."

References

  1. "Truth (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  2. ^ "'Truth', 'Room', 'The Assassin' & A Netflix Title Vie For Specialty Crowds – Preview". Deadline. October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  3. Todd McCarthy, "'Truth': TIFF Review", The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Sep 2015.
  4. "'Rathergate' Drives 'Truth' Film; Robert Redford To Play Dan Rather, Cate Blanchett To Play Producer Mary Mapes". Deadline.com. July 9, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  5. "SPC throws 'Truth' into awards ring". Screen International. July 31, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  6. Cusumano, Katherine (October 2015). "Giorgio Armani and The Cinema Society host a screening of Sony Pictures Classics' Truth". Interview (magazine). Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  7. "Robert Redford to Play Dan Rather in CBS Scandal Movie 'Truth'". Variety. July 9, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  8. "Elisabeth Moss joins Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett for Dan Rather scandal drama 'Truth'". HitFix. September 23, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  9. "Dennis Quaid Joins Dan Rather-George W. Bush Scandal Pic 'Truth'". Deadline.com. September 30, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  10. "Topher Grace Cast In 'Truth', Dan Rather-George W. Bush Scandal Pic". Deadline.com. October 2, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  11. "'Manhattan' Star John Benjamin Hickey Joins Dan Rather Scandal Movie". The Hollywood Reporter. October 2, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  12. "Bruce Greenwood Joins Dan Rather Scandal Movie". The Hollywood Reporter. October 27, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  13. "'Revolution' Alum David Lyons to Play '60 Minutes' EP in Dan Rather Movie 'Truth'". TheWrap. November 13, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  14. "Walker on Truth, Westerns and ACS Gold Winner Tracks". American Society of Cinematographers. November 12, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  15. "Truth in Sydney". HLA Management Australia. October 28, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  16. "Composer Brian Tyler to keynote 2nd Annual Production Music Conference". Shoot. July 31, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  17. "Truth Filming in Sydney". Ausfilm. October 24, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  18. "Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett Ready For 'Truth' Sydney Shoot". The Hollywood Reporter. October 22, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  19. "Sony Pictures Classics Finds 'Truth'; Robert Redford-Cate Blanchett Starrer Goes For $6 Million – Cannes". Deadline.com. May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  20. "Sandra Bullock's 'Our Brand Is Crisis,' Robert Redford's 'Truth' to Premiere at Toronto". Variety. August 18, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  21. Raftery, Brian (September 12, 2015). "TIFF 2015: Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett Tackle Rathergate in 'Truth'". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  22. "Robert Redford-Cate Blanchett Drama 'Truth' to Open Hamptons Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. August 26, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  23. Kit, Borys (July 31, 2015). "Dan Rather Scandal Movie Gets Release Date". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  24. "Truth (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  25. "Truth Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  26. "Leslie Moonves and CBS Staff Heard Dismissing Robert Redford's Dan Rather Movie as "Half-Truth"". The Hollywood Reporter. September 16, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  27. ^ "Dan Rather vs. George W. Bush: 'Truth' comes out". Fortune. October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  28. ^ "CBS Bans Ads for Dan Rather Movie 'Truth'". The Hollywood Reporter. October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

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