True Story

'True Story' explores a scary real-life incident & tries to make an awkward friendship tale out of it. Well, almost. And sadly, not all of it works, but with some powerful moments & Strong Performances going its way, the film scores on some levels.

'True Story' Synopsis: When disgraced New York Times reporter Michael Finkel (Jonah Hill) meets accused killer Christian Longo (James Franco) - who has taken on Finkel's identity - his investigation morphs into a game of cat-and-mouse.

'True Story' begins grippingly & you're invested in the journey of these two disgraced men, one far more than the other of course. But, the pace slackens as the narrative proceeds. The second-hour lacks the punch, although the goings-on become quite intense in its penultimate moments. Nonetheless, the Writing needed some stronger stuff.

David Kajganich & Rupert Goold's Screenplay, which is Based on the memoir of the same name by Michael Finkel, is greatly Written in parts, but doesn't come across as solid overall. As mentioned earlier, the second-hour doesn't have the moments it should have. Rupert Goold's Direction is controlled & well-done. Cinematography is atmospheric. Editing is finely done.

Performance-Wise: Jonah Hill is in very good form, yet again! Hill, now a versatile actor known by all, sinks his teeth into the part & enacts the disgraced man, with great maturity. James Franco is top-notch. His performance is so good, that you actually want to believe him & want him free of the heinous crime he's accused of. Felicity Jones, besides looking stunning, takes a terrific turn, as the morally strong minded woman.

On the whole, 'True Story' isn't very engaging always, but the performances are.

Saw True Story (film) starring Jonah Hill, James Franco, and Felicity Jones at Regal Cinemas last night! The film is based on actual events. It was very unusual, yet interesting and visually stimulating to see both Jonah and James playing roles so out of their ordinary type. Hill portrays Michael Finkel, The New York Times journalist who is subsequently terminated by the paper after being accused of incomplete research and creating a composite character, a boy named Youssouf Male while covering a story in an article about Ivory Coast Cocoa Plantations.

After being let go by the Times, Finkel (Hill) struggles to find journalistic job opportunities until one day he receives a mysterious phone call from a man regarding an FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation Most Wanted individual named Christian Longo, portrayed by Franco, who is wanted for murdering his entire family and is eventually captured in México while claiming to be living as Finkel. Finkel decides this is an opportunity story of a life time, so he meets with Longo trying to figure out why his now tarnished journalistic name was used by this accused murderer.

Finkel agrees to share his journalistic expertise with Longo in exchange for information regarding the murders for his Murder Memoir which tells a "True Story" regarding the events portrayed in the film. While in Newport, Oregon County Jail awaiting trial, Longo corresponds with Finkel via U.S. Mail, sending him written clues which appear to be confusing and misleading about his family life, yet enough information to put the pieces of the puzzle together and compile a Murder Memoir. Finkel attends the trial and at the end he uncovers the "True Story."

The film has several twists and turns which will keep you interested. It was cool to see both Hill and Franco play roles no one would ever think they would take on. Both actors handled this "True Story" film brilliantly! Not a must see, but definitely worth seeing if you want to experience these veteran actor Academy Award Nominees in diverse roles. My cinema score is 7/10! ‪#‎maverickradio‬™

"True Story" (2015 release; 100 min.) brings the story of how a reporter becomes entangled in a murder suspect's world. As the movie opens, we see some brutal images of a young child being stuffed into a suitcase, which later turns up in the water. What is going on here? After the opening credits, we get to know Michael Finkel (played by Jonah Hill), a New York Times reporter, as he interviews young men somewhere in Africa. Alas, later on he is caught fabricating some of the facts for the subsequent NYT piece and he is let go in disgrace. Meanwhile, we get to know Christian Longo (played by James Franco), accused of killed his wife and 3 young kids. When he is rounded up, he claims to be Michael Finkel, NYT reporter. It is not long before Longo makes contact, from jail, with the real Mike Finkel. To tell you more would spoil your viewing pleasure, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: "True Story" is based on the Mike Finkel book of the same name, and if of course a true story. The premise of the movie is really intriguing (and cleverly played up in the trailer), reason I went to see this in the first place, namely is Longo somehow playing Finkel, while being in jail, and if so, what disastrous effects could that have for Finkel? Alas, in the movie it doesn't bear out. There is lots of build up in the movie, and ultimately not enough pay-off. I am all for a long build-up, but there has to be a reward for sticking with the build up, and when the reward finally comes, it's simply not enough. A quick word about the acting performances: James Franco does what he can with the limited material that is given to him. Jonah Hill is okay as the disgraced NYT reporter. The real star of the movie Felicity Jones in the role of Jill, the girlfriend of Mike Finkel. I also want to give props to prolific soundtrack composer Marco Beltrami (recently of The November Man; The Drop; The Giver, just to name those), who once again provides a lovely soundtrack.

The early evening theater screening where I saw this at was attended not very well (less than 10 people), but in fairness, it was a weekday evening. That said, while this is not a 'bad' movie per se, nor do I feel that the movie is all that it could've become. That said, if you have a chance to check out "True Story", be it in the theater or on DVD/Blu-ray, I suggest you do and draw your own conclusion.

A true story is not necessarily an interesting one, a fact proved by this mess of a movie. The easy pickings for criticism begin with Jonah Hill – a very talented and enjoyable actor who is out of his depth in this leading role. After turning in excellent (and, to some, surprising) dramatic performances in Oscar-nominated supporting roles in Moneyball and the Wolf of Wall St., Hill, or someone in his camp, decided it was time to take a crack at a dramatic leading man role. I'm not saying he can't or won't someday be successful in that effort, but this wasn't time. Nor was it completely his fault.

The script and the direction lack clarity and vision. And, as the two greatest opponents in any communications endeavor are confusion and boredom, True Story pulls of the cardinal double no-no. First time feature film Director Rupert Goold had a potentially interesting story and some capable talent in his hands but simply didn't execute on it. The montages that fail to advance the story in an interesting manner are just one example maddening displays of wasted opportunity. The staging is often flat. The edits, at times, seem to happen because they can rather than for any good reason. The strange thing to me is, watching this film in a packed free preview audience, there were more than a few people that seemed to think it was at least "okay". I could be snarky and say they got what they paid for it, but I'll take the high road. My opinion, like all, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Hill plays Michael Finkel, a former New York Times reporter who got fired for the way he embellished a story and conflated sources to tell, what he felt, was a greater truth. I never believed Hill as a writer, though he has shown great intelligence in even some of his silliest characters previously. James Franco plays Christian Longo, who ranks among the lower level of scum of the earth for killing his wife and three kids in brutal and remorseless fashion. Felicity Jones is a fine actress whose character, Jill, seems to have some interesting things to say, but rarely gets a chance to show them. Her relationship with Hill is laughably bad. And as much as I wanted to cheer for her in the dramatic take it to Christian moment when she decides to visit him in prison (and she's there because it makes good drama…?), the movie was long since gone. James Franco flashes occasionally as Longo, but I still get the feeling he was bored or partially committed too often, unwilling to throw his full weight behind what he's doing. See him in Spring Breakers to get the depth of depravity played well if you want to see this type of thing.

if you'd asked me to rate this half way through, i'd say it was at least 8 or 9, everything was well done, a well made film that had you guessing and the cast was great...

but then you realise there was no clever ending, no twist, no moment where all the pieces come together... unfortunately, at the title suggests, this is a true story, and the reality is there is no real story to tell.

really disappointing, missed opportunity in my opinion as the cast was perfect, the tension was built up, the filming was so well done... for nothing.

True stories... are often boring, people argue that 'that's what really happened'... that's fine but many things happen, every day, they just don't need multi million pound films made about them.