In the opening of Nothing But The Truth, the President barely survives an assassination attempt. Several weeks later, the United States launches an attack on Venezuela, based on a CIA report which stated that their government was behind the attempt on the President’s life. Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale), a reporter at a Washington D.C. newspaper, gets a hot tip that Erica Van Doren (Vera Farminga), who’s married to a former U.S. ambassador, is a CIA operative who wrote a report after a fact-finding mission to Venezuela which absolves that government of any wrong-doing. It becomes personal for Rachel when she reveals that Van Doren’s daughter goes to the same school as her young son.
When the story breaks, Van Doren finds herself under a harsh media spotlight,
while Rachel finds herself in the crosshairs of Patton Dubois (Matt Dillon), a
special prosecutor who has been called upon to investigate this assault on
national security. And ‘national security’ appears to be the code word here, as
all constitutional rights are swept aside in the attempt to preserve our
security against all outside threats. But what about the threats to our freedom
from within our own government? Kate Beckinsale is superb as Rachel, a
sympathetic figure who gets caught up in the tangled web of politics as she fights to keep her source’s identity a secret--even to the point of going to jail.
And yet writer/director Rod Lurie wisely doesn’t make Rachel a complete saint by
giving us an equal and non-judgmental look of the result of Rachel’s actions on
Erica. Vera Farminga really shines here as Erica, another sympathetic woman whose life is in
tatters, and who has to struggle just to keep her reputation intact. On the
surface, Nothing But The Truth is a warning about how the First Amendment must
be protected against government abuse--however, while this could have easily
been a one-sided screed, Lurie instead creates a solid, gripping drama by giving all
of his fully-drawn characters equal time in his well written script.
Drawing inspriration from a well-known real life case where a CIA agent was
outed, Lurie creates an engrossing film with plenty of shocking twists and turns.
The DVD has a commentary, a well-done making of documentary, and deleted scenes.
But it's the film itself--with its balanced view of some controversial issues--that's
the real draw here. Give Nothing But The Truth a shot, and you’ll see that Kate Beckinsale is equally
adept at fighting for her principles as she is fighting werewolves.
--SF
Main Review Page | Drama Page |Email Me | Buy Nothing But the Truth on DVD
