Nothing But the Truth (2008)

In Washington, D.C., a female reporter faces a possible jail sentence for outing a CIA agent and refusing to reveal her source.

Director:

Rod Lurie

Writer:

Rod Lurie

Stars:

Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Vera Farmiga

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kate Beckinsale	...	Rachel Armstrong
Matt Dillon	...	Patton Dubois
Angela Bassett	...	Bonnie Benjamin
Alan Alda	...	Albert Burnside
Vera Farmiga	...	Erica Van Doren
David Schwimmer	...	Ray Armstrong
Courtney B. Vance	...	Agent O'Hara
Noah Wyle	...	Avril Aaronson
Floyd Abrams	...	Judge Hall
Preston Bailey	...	Timmy Armstrong
Kristen Bough	...	Allison Van Doren
Julie Ann Emery	...	Agent Boyd
Robert Harvey	...	Warden
Michael O'Neill	...	CIA Director
Kristen Shaw	...	Angel

Storyline

Thinking Pulitzer Prize and hoping to bring down a President, D.C. political columnist Rachel Armstrong writes that the President ignored the findings of a covert CIA operative when ordering air strikes against Venezuela. Rachel names the agent, Erica Van Doren, a woman whose young daughter is in Rachel's son's class at school. The government moves quickly to force Rachel to name her source. She's jailed for contempt when she refuses. She won't change her mind, and the days add up. Chaos descends on Van Doren's life as well. First Amendment versus national security, marriage and motherhood versus separation. What's the value of a principle?

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Plot Keywords:

cia | jail | reporter | confidentiality | freedom of the press | 

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Taglines:

Don't Reveal the Source

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexual material and a scene of violence

Details

Official Sites:

Yari Film Group [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 2009 (Philippines)

Also Known As:

Faces da Verdade

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles National Cemetery - 950 S Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,045, 21 December 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,045, 21 December 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yari Film Group (YFG), Battleplan Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min 108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The plot loosely incorporates the real-life drama of former CIA agent Valerie Plame and New York Times writer Judith Miller (who served 85 days in jail on the same charges). Valerie Plame's story was eventually adapted into a feature film starring Naomi Watts in Fair Game (2010).

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Goofs

Numerous times, Rachael is referred to as "Miss Armstrong", but since she's married, the correct title is "Mrs."

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Quotes

Dubois: Now for some reason, you don't reveal your source, you'll be held in contempt. And that means jail time. And we're not talking about some sort of a Martha Stewart cell with a butler nonsense.

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Connections

References The Twilight Zone (1959)

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Soundtracks

It's Not There
Written by Matthew Nichols
Performed by Matthew Nichols

User Reviews

Great story, great tension, great film

Kate Beckinsale, Vera Farmiga, Alan Alda, Matt Dilon. Such great cast alone was enough "quality stamp" for me to get me interested in this film. I must say Nothing But The Truth has exceeded my expectations many times over.

Based on a true story, the basic plot line has close focus on a reporter of a Washington D.C. major newspaper Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) who after writing an article on the US president's actions revealing the identity of a secret CIA agent Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) is being pressured to reveal her secret source by the government in such ways she could never have imagined.

The story flows flawlessly, picks up nicely and slowly drags you into a twist of controversial emotions, drawing the characters with all their pros and cons and letting you slowly get acquainted with their moral inner fights.

Beckinsale and Farmiga have a great energy between them that will have you forget you're watching a movie and catch your breath at the few scenes at which they confront each other. Alda, as usual is a brilliant defender of humanity and freedom. Dilon's take on the "hyenous prosecutor" is so tremendously real will all aspects of belief in his work it's simply scary.

Alik Sakharov great DoP work on this film shows every muscle moving on the actors' faces, which underlines the great work of the actors.

This film definitely proves Lurie knows what he's doing out there and I'll definitely have my eye on his future work.