If the quality of a film was determined solely by the strength of its premise, True Story would stand tall among its peers. In fact, on paper, Rupert Goold‘s feature directorial debut has all the makings of a genre standout: an amateur detective yarn, adapted from a true crime memoir, starring a trio of young Oscar nominees. And as a longtime theatre director, Goold would seem a perfect fit to direct a movie constructed primarily from scenes that unfold in close quarters. But alas, the true test of any movie is in the viewing, not in what you can read on IMDb, and it’s in the viewing that this yarn eventually comes unspooled.
True Story centers on Mike Finkel (Jonah Hill), a “New York Times” reporter primed for a Pulitzer, until he fabricates portions of a high-profile exposé about child slavery. Fired and fallen from his perch, he returns to his wife (Felicity Jones) in Montana to get back on his feet, but a new subject quickly falls into his lap: Christian Longo (James Franco), a man who stole Mike’s identity while on the lam in Mexico after being accused of murdering his wife and their three children. Mike thinks Chris could be the key to rediscovering his own identity, but he soon realizes the alleged killer’s story could be the biggest scoop of his career.
The film is billed as a game of cat-and-mouse, and it is, but more than anything else it is concerned with obsession, a state of mind that has profound effects on our lives. It diminishes our ability to see what is directly in front of us, instead leading us to drown out common sense in favor of pride and success, and to let our relationships with loved ones unravel at the seams as we lose our identities in something more temporary. True Story is about those things, or at least it seems to want to be about those things. The film touches on the myriad consequences that stem from obsession, but these things are less than fully formed when they appear in the story.
Like most tales spun from true crime silk, True Story is cold, a quality arising naturally from its premise. However, the movie’s atmosphere feels a bit like something crafted and tweaked in order that the film may fit more squarely within its genre. Goold doesn’t seem to trust the weight of his central mystery, so True Story slowly loses its footing as various moments are played up or shoehorned in. A number of shots are drawn out longer than necessary, and characters often speak their lines slower and with more emphasis than a normal person would, line readings that belong in a parody of “True Detective“, not a legitimate true crime thriller. Despite the director’s attempts to add tension there isn’t much to be found in the film’s later scenes, the result of a film that isn’t ever really allowed to breathe its own breath.
I don’t want to give the impression the film is a total loss — it definitely isn’t, thanks in large part to the movie’s premise and Hill’s performance, the latter of which carries the film when it needs it most — but True Story lacks the subtlety a surer hand likely would have provided. Goold’s film shows promise early on and at various points throughout the film, but in the end I’m left largely observing the cracks, the biggest of which being that it’s so emotionally distant.
The movie focuses primarily on the dynamics of Mike’s relationship with Chris and his marriage to Jill, the latter apparently strained as a result of the growing importance of the former. I say apparently because, while I am certain we are to believe Mike’s marriage is falling apart as a result of his growing obsession, we don’t really see this manifest itself in any way, save for a scene where Mike gets a call about an advance for his new book. Jill dons a fake smile, presumably weary about how the news will affect the couple’s marriage. However, the way the scene is shot and edited, Jill comes off as nagging and unsupportive, rather than a young woman concerned about the health of her marriage.
Ultimately, the problems I have stem from the script. Adapted by Goold and David Kajganich (The Invasion) from Finkel’s “True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa“, the film advances an interesting premise, but Gold and Kajganich don’t effectively build toward moments in order to achieve an emotional payoff.
Despite its missteps, True Story is stylish and plenty compelling, and given the recent popularity of true crime media like the podcast “Serial” and HBO‘s documentary series “The Jinx“, it feels very much of the moment. Unfortunately, for as much as I tried to overlook its shortcomings, it becomes harder and harder to do so as this unbelievable tale ambles toward its conclusion. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, but it’s not the facts of the story that trip me up, it’s the atmosphere, the tone, and the script with which I take issue. Ultimately, in spite of its awesome premise, True Story just feels a bit false.
