Everyone once in a while comes a movie that is unlike any other. One you can’t predict. Truth is one of those rare, powerful movies that focuses on the lead actress as the heroine. Mary Mapes (played by Cate Blanchett) is a mom, but the story isn’t solely about her being a mom. She is a wife, but the story isn’t solely about being a wife. She is a daughter, but again, that is only one element of the story, not the entire story. Mary Mapes is focused on in the film as a journalist, but the film also touches on the other varying aspects of her life. It makes the movie entirely relatable even if you have never gone through any of the challenges, setbacks, and scrutiny that she endured.
Based on the true story of Mary Mapes, a former CBS producer who is known best for her work on 60 Minutes, this films takes the audience into every corner of her life. Mary is passionate and driven and does not take “no” as an answer. After learning from various sources that President George W. Bush was not the pilot in his younger years that he led America to believe he was, Mary dedicates herself to building a team of journalists to find out the truth in what is now known as the Killian documents controversy. The front man on her team is iconic CBS newscaster, Dan Rather, played by Robert Redford.
Mary commits herself and her team to digging into the past, researching documents and talking to military officials who would have inside knowledge of President George W. Bush’s time in the Air National Guard. Mary and her team uncover numerous articles of evidence, but with re-election on the horizon, exposing a secret of that magnitude does not prove to be easy. In a film positioned in controversy, politics, and pushing to do the right thing, Truth will leave audience members still questioning what they saw long after the film is over. At what cost do you stop looking for the truth?
Director: James Vanderbilt
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Topher Grace, Elisabeth Moss, and Dennis Quaid
Run Time: 2 hr. 5 min.
Rating: R (for language and brief nude photo)
See upcoming showtimes for Truth here.
