Truth
starring Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Toper Grace, Dennis Quaid and Bruce Greenwood
screenplay and directed by James Vanderbilt
Rating: ♦♦♦◊◊
Based on the book Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power by Mary Mapes.
Controversy surrounds a CBS News anchor and his producer after they report a sitting U.S. President may have been AWOL during his military service. This is based on the true story about the collapse of American newsman Dan Rather’s career. The “60 Minutes” news show pursued a story about U.S. President George H.W. Bush’s time in the Texas Air National Guard, with innuendoes that although he was enlisted in the service he, in fact, did not perform in the service. The suggestions are that he was absent from his base of record for long periods of time. In the movie, the story is based on the documents supplied to the producer, Mary Mapes, not on the truth of the documents. There is a big mess surrounding the question of proper journalistic procedure and vetting of information, and political vendetta against critics.
Nothing is settled about George H.W. Bush, but we learn a lot about the downfall of one of America`s great newsmen who appeared to be caught up in an amateur journalism student’s mistake.