IT’S A GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE — WITHOUT GAME
True Story ends up ringing false, despite movie’s real- life origins
There’s a fascinating true story at the heart of True Story, but somehow, the process of putting it on film has smoothed out the horror and smothered the inherent allure in the tale of a disgraced journalist who befriends an accused murderer.
Jonah Hill plays the former New York Times writer Michael Finkel, whose string of cover stories for the paper’s magazine ended when it was revealed he’d created a composite character for a piece on the modern African slave trade.
Granted, fact- fudging isn’t as bad as outright fabrication or plagiarism, but it calls a writer’s credibility into question. I once had a night of soul- searching about whether to softpedal my hatred for the animated movie Free Birds. In the end, I had no choice but to call a turkey a turkey.
Anyway, just as the hammer is falling on Finkel’s career, he gets a call from an Oregon reporter ( Ethan Suplee) who wants his take on the case of Christian Longo, wanted for killing his wife and three children. When captured in Mexico, Longo gave his name as “Mike Finkel of the New York Times.”
Finkel, equally weirded out and flattered, writes a letter to Longo in jail and eventually arranges to meet him.
The exceptionally calm maybe- killer opens the conversation by asking the reporter: “Did you do it?” And when Finkel confesses, he remarks: “And now you’re here.” Finkel has literally gone to prison for his misdeeds.
This and subsequent meetings have the potential to create crackling scenes of twitchy gamesmanship, newsman versus con man. But first- time feature director Rupert Goold, who also co- wrote, with David Kajganich, this adaptation of Finkel’s memoir, can’t quite get a grip on the tone.
A bit of clever cross- cutting suggests similarities between the two men, but the film also throws in sunlit flashbacks to Longo’s wife and children, which add little to the proceedings. Meanwhile, Finkel’s girlfriend ( Felicity Jones) wafts around their woodsy home but also fails to contribute to what should be a mood of increasing oddity and electric tension. Her own visit to Longo feels singularly unbelievable. It may even have happened, but it sure doesn’t feel like it happened.
It should be noted that this isn’t a story of identity theft; Longo’s use of Finkel’s credentials was a case of giving a false name rather than trying to steal someone’s life.
And while trailers for the film hold out the possibility of intricate paper puzzles in Longo’s writings, and real physical danger for Finkel, neither of these things come to pass either.
What remains is a cat- andmouse game in which the mouse is already in a trap, and the cat has one paw tied behind its back. ( I know; a simultaneously disturbing and adorable notion.)
In the hands of a David Fincher, or even just told as a straight- up documentary, there’s still great potential in this setup.
As it stands, however, True Story, remains merely a curiosity — not least because of the curious fact it features two of the stars of Seth Rogen’s and Evan Goldberg’s raucous 2013 comedy, This Is the End, and of their upcoming animated Sausage Party.
If I hadn’t seen Franco and Hill in dramatic roles before, I’d suggest they were impersonating other, better performers, and doing a better job than the movie they’re in here.