Real life stories can be difficult to translate to fictional films. Sometimes they don’t exactly fit into a three act story with a beginning, middle and end. True Story actually has all of the elements and some interesting sidelines of note, but puts them together in a very pat and standard format. It’s an engaging enough film, but one that takes little risks and stays too close to the surface in its character analysis.
Mike Finkel (Jonah Hill) is a New York Time reporter struggling with a controversy over the authenticity of one of his articles. While retreating with his wife Jill (Felicity Jones), he learns of a strange quadruple homicide. Christian Longo (James Franco) is a man accused of murdering his spouse and their three children. Most fascinating to the journalist is the fact that Longo impersonated Mike while on the run.
As the two meet before the trial, there are some interesting moments. There’s a good rapport between the two actors and Franco makes it difficult to get a clear read on his character. While those familiar with the story will already know how it works out, at certain points Finkel and the audience may have doubts about the inmate’s guilt. Hill is also good as the troubled writer with a checkered past – it is interesting to see the two disparate individuals find some common ground. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that Finkel is strangely flattered by the accused killer’s attention.
We learn more about the crime as the story progresses and events become clear. However, the grey relationship between the men dissipates too rapidly. The film takes the easy road out after establishing an unusual dynamic. Characters suddenly pontificate and give lectures about the lack of morals in others. At the close, one of them is literally questioned on their own motives for participating and profiting from the collaboration. Unfortunately, it all becomes heavy-handed and forced.
Yes, there are bad people in the movie, but it appears to hint that some people’s actions simply can’t be understood (even though we’re watching an entire film attempting to detail the violent crime). While I don’t necessary agree with the message, that isn’t its biggest issue. The problem is that the message feels hammered over the head. It seems as if the storyteller desperately wants to tell us what to think about the leads, instead of letting us come up with our own conclusions.
And there’s a very interesting aspect that isn’t focused on nearly enough. Over the course of the story, we see one lead taking on aspects of the other’s life (one interesting element of this is mentioned in the postscript). The idea of seeing a man assume characteristics of the other as that person free-falls seems far more exciting as a story thread. One wishes that there had been more of a focus on the transformation of the main characters and what fascinates and binds them together.
The acting is solid throughout and the story itself is intriguing. But True Story could have used an even more subtle approach and been less forthright in its observations. It’s well acted and certainly decent, but these nagging aspects keep it from lingering in the brain, or achieving a deeper meaning. And at the end of the day, the movie ends up feeling like an elaborately produced episode of the TV show Dateline with dramatic reenactments from an A-list cast.