A FILM REVIEW
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
by Malik Isasis
“In 1972 in Gransberg V. Hayes this court ruled against the right of reporters to withhold the names of their sources before a grand jury, and it gave the power to the government to imprison those reporters who did. It was a 5-4 decision, close. In his descent in Gransberg, Justice Stewart said, “As the years pass, power of government becomes more and more pervasive. “Those in power,” he said, “Whatever their politics, want only to perpetuate it, and the people are the victims. Well, the years have passed, and that power is pervasive. Mrs. Armstrong could have buckled to the demands of the government—she could’ve abandoned her promise of confidentiality and she could have simply gone home to her family. But to do so, would mean that no source would ever speak to her again, and no source would never speak to her newspaper again. And then tomorrow when we lock up journalists from other newspapers…we will make those publications irrelevant as well, and thus we will make the First Amendment irrelevant. And then how will we know if a president has covered up crimes or if an army officer has condoned torture. We as a nation will no longer be able to hold those in power accountable to those they have power over—and what then is the nature of government when it has no fear of accountability? We should shutter at the thought. Imprisoning journalists—that’s for other countries, that’s for countries who fear their citizens, not countries that cherish and protect them. Some time ago, I began to feel the personal, human pressure on Rachel Armstrong and I told her that I was there to represent her and not her principle…and it was not until I met her that I realize that with great people, there’s no difference between principle and the person.”
That speech was delivered by Albert Burnside (Alan Alda, to the Supreme Court on behalf of his client, Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) in the political thriller, Nothing But the Truth. Nothing But the Truth is an austere story of a reporter Rachel Armstrong (Beckinsale) who uncovers the identity of a CIA agent (the always interesting Vera Farmiga), and reports the agent’s name in her newspaper. If this sounds familiar, the idea was pulled from the headlines of the Valerie Plame case in which she, a CIA operative, was outed by the Bush Administration for her husband’s Joe Wilson, former Ambassador, campaign to discredit the Bush Administration’s reasons for going to war.
Judith Miller, former New York Times’ reporter, and cheerleader of the Iraq War reported, was also an inspiration. Miller reported in the build up to the Iraq war, the interception of metal tubes bound for Iraq. Her front-page story quoted unnamed "American officials" and "American intelligence experts" who said the tubes were intended to be used to enrich nuclear material, and cited unnamed "Bush administration officials" who claimed that in recent months, Iraq had "stepped up its quest for nuclear weapons and has embarked on a worldwide hunt for materials to make an atomic bomb.
Miller was eventually jailed for refusing to name the source that leaked Valerie Plame’s name to the media before a federal grand jury and was held in contempt of
court to which the New York Time editorialized as such:
This is a proud but awful moment for The New York Times and its employees. One of our reporters, Judith Miller, has decided to accept a jail sentence rather than testify before a grand jury about one of her confidential sources. Ms. Miller has taken a path that will be lonely and painful for her and her family and friends. We wish she did not have to choose it, but we are certain she did the right thing…
Writer/Director Rod Lurie chose not to make reporter Rachel Armstrong a Right-Wing hack; rather she is careless, but ultimately sympathetic. The film illustrates the absurdity of the high schoolish nature of the 24-hour news cycle and how it is fueled by half-truths, innuendos and lies.
Kate Beckinsale is wonderful in this film; it is an understated performance that is not overwrought with melodrama, but realism as she sees her upper middle class life style fall apart due to her uncompromising principles.
The film is somewhat relentless in how it begins with a premise and follows doggedly that concept to its conclusion, which leaves one feeling incredibly disturbed about the state of our corporate media and government. And the eloquent speech Alan Alda’s character gives to the Supreme Court, resulted again in a 5-4-decision loss. Relentless.
Nothing But the Truth was supposed to be released on December 19, 2008, the date was pushed back to February 28, 2009, now it looks like it will go straight to video sometime in March. I find this very unfortunate for such a smart political film.
Grade: B+
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
by Malik Isasis
“In 1972 in Gransberg V. Hayes this court ruled against the right of reporters to withhold the names of their sources before a grand jury, and it gave the power to the government to imprison those reporters who did. It was a 5-4 decision, close. In his descent in Gransberg, Justice Stewart said, “As the years pass, power of government becomes more and more pervasive. “Those in power,” he said, “Whatever their politics, want only to perpetuate it, and the people are the victims. Well, the years have passed, and that power is pervasive. Mrs. Armstrong could have buckled to the demands of the government—she could’ve abandoned her promise of confidentiality and she could have simply gone home to her family. But to do so, would mean that no source would ever speak to her again, and no source would never speak to her newspaper again. And then tomorrow when we lock up journalists from other newspapers…we will make those publications irrelevant as well, and thus we will make the First Amendment irrelevant. And then how will we know if a president has covered up crimes or if an army officer has condoned torture. We as a nation will no longer be able to hold those in power accountable to those they have power over—and what then is the nature of government when it has no fear of accountability? We should shutter at the thought. Imprisoning journalists—that’s for other countries, that’s for countries who fear their citizens, not countries that cherish and protect them. Some time ago, I began to feel the personal, human pressure on Rachel Armstrong and I told her that I was there to represent her and not her principle…and it was not until I met her that I realize that with great people, there’s no difference between principle and the person.”
That speech was delivered by Albert Burnside (Alan Alda, to the Supreme Court on behalf of his client, Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) in the political thriller, Nothing But the Truth. Nothing But the Truth is an austere story of a reporter Rachel Armstrong (Beckinsale) who uncovers the identity of a CIA agent (the always interesting Vera Farmiga), and reports the agent’s name in her newspaper. If this sounds familiar, the idea was pulled from the headlines of the Valerie Plame case in which she, a CIA operative, was outed by the Bush Administration for her husband’s Joe Wilson, former Ambassador, campaign to discredit the Bush Administration’s reasons for going to war.
Judith Miller, former New York Times’ reporter, and cheerleader of the Iraq War reported, was also an inspiration. Miller reported in the build up to the Iraq war, the interception of metal tubes bound for Iraq. Her front-page story quoted unnamed "American officials" and "American intelligence experts" who said the tubes were intended to be used to enrich nuclear material, and cited unnamed "Bush administration officials" who claimed that in recent months, Iraq had "stepped up its quest for nuclear weapons and has embarked on a worldwide hunt for materials to make an atomic bomb.
Miller was eventually jailed for refusing to name the source that leaked Valerie Plame’s name to the media before a federal grand jury and was held in contempt of
court to which the New York Time editorialized as such:
This is a proud but awful moment for The New York Times and its employees. One of our reporters, Judith Miller, has decided to accept a jail sentence rather than testify before a grand jury about one of her confidential sources. Ms. Miller has taken a path that will be lonely and painful for her and her family and friends. We wish she did not have to choose it, but we are certain she did the right thing…
Writer/Director Rod Lurie chose not to make reporter Rachel Armstrong a Right-Wing hack; rather she is careless, but ultimately sympathetic. The film illustrates the absurdity of the high schoolish nature of the 24-hour news cycle and how it is fueled by half-truths, innuendos and lies.
Kate Beckinsale is wonderful in this film; it is an understated performance that is not overwrought with melodrama, but realism as she sees her upper middle class life style fall apart due to her uncompromising principles.
The film is somewhat relentless in how it begins with a premise and follows doggedly that concept to its conclusion, which leaves one feeling incredibly disturbed about the state of our corporate media and government. And the eloquent speech Alan Alda’s character gives to the Supreme Court, resulted again in a 5-4-decision loss. Relentless.
Nothing But the Truth was supposed to be released on December 19, 2008, the date was pushed back to February 28, 2009, now it looks like it will go straight to video sometime in March. I find this very unfortunate for such a smart political film.
Grade: B+
posted by Malik Isasis at
8:27 PM
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