The truth of the matter: before the spin, beyond the hyperbole, beneath the bias. Believe what you want, but the truth exists still - unchanged, undeterred, unheard of by those who insist on believing only what they want. The truth of James Vanderbilt's Truth: before the misinterpretations, beyond the misinformation, beneath the mismanagement of a story founded upon the principle of truth - this is a good movie, with a good heart, besieged by bad handling. Vanderbilt leans too heavily on what we can glean for ourselves, layering the heroism on thick and hard, spinning a story that was already spoilt by spin. He buries the truth his film seeks, discovers and otherwise delineates effectively, and almost buries the entire film as a result. The Spielbergian touch is present, there in the inquisitive (male) youth, and the dogged, integrity-driven (male) journo; the acting meets the low standard set by the writing, save the mighty Cate Blanchett. She takes a leaf from her character's book, struggling against the weight of a system determined to destroy her, propelled through each scene by sheer drive to overcome, to allow Truth to truly get to that truth it wishes to tell. The first half of Truth is all trailer-ready soundbites and cute, insincere edits; the second half settles somewhat, fuelled less by the desire to ignite the box office, more by the desire to ignite fury in the viewer. It's no artistic triumph, but it's at least worth the wait. And here, James Vanderbilt genuinely does get to the truth of the matter. It's a good movie, but you'd be forgiven for missing that.
