True Story (film)

Not to be confused with True Stories (film).
True Story

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rupert Goold
Produced by
Screenplay by
  • David Kajganich
  • Rupert Goold
Based on True Story 
by Michael Finkel
Starring
Music by Marco Beltrami
Cinematography Masanobu Takayanagi
Edited by Nicolas De Toth
Production
company
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
  • April 17, 2015 (2015-04-17)
Running time
 99 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Box office $5.3 million[2]

True Story is a 2015 American mystery thriller film directed by Rupert Goold and written by Goold and David Kajganich. Based on the memoir of the same name by Michael Finkel, the film stars Jonah Hill, James Franco and Felicity Jones. Other actors include Gretchen Mol, Betty Gilpin, and John Sharian.

Franco plays Christian Longo, a man on the FBI's most wanted list for murdering his wife and three children in Oregon. He hid in Mexico under the identity of Michael Finkel, a journalist, played by Hill.[3] The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically on April 17, 2015 in the United States. The film explores the relationship that develops between the two men after the journalist Finkel begins to meet with Longo in prison.

Plot

Christian Longo (James Franco), an Oregon man whose wife and three children have been discovered murdered, is arrested by police in Mexico. There he claimed to be a reporter for the New York Times named Michael Finkel.

In New York City, Finkel (Jonah Hill) is an ambitious and successful reporter. He is confronted by his editors in a separate incident, accuse him of partially fabricating a story which they had featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. Although Finkel attempts to defend his actions, he is dismissed. He returns home to Montana, where his wife Jill (Felicity Jones) lives. He struggles to find work but is unsuccessful due to his dismissal from the Times.

Finkel is contacted by a reporter for The Oregonian, who is seeking his opinion on Christian Longo's theft of his identity. Finkel, who was not aware of Longo's actions, is intrigued. He arranges to meet with Longo in prison. During their first conversation, Longo claims that he has followed Finkel for his entire career, being fascinated by his writing. Longo agrees to tell Finkel his side of the story, in exchange for writing lessons, and Finkel's promising his silence on their encounters.

Finkel becomes increasingly absorbed with Longo, evasive about his guilt. Convinced that the story will be redemptive, Finkel meets and corresponds with Longo for several months. Finkel receives numerous letters from Longo. An eighty-page volume entitled "Wrong Turns", which contains what Longo describes as a list of every mistake he has made in his life. Finkel begins to see similar things about Longo and himself; writing style, drawing, Longo's letters, Finkel's personal journals. The trial approaches, Finkel's doubt as to Longo's guilt increases. Longo informs Finkel he intends changing his plea, saying he did not kill his family.

At the plea hearing, Longo pleads not guilty to two of the murders, but pleads guilty to the murder of his wife and one of his daughters. Confused, Finkel confronts Longo, who claims that he has to protect certain individuals, whom he refuses to name. Greg Ganley (Robert John Burke), a detective who tracked Longo down, approaches Finkel. He claims that Longo is an extremely dangerous and manipulative man; he tries to convince Finkel to turn over as evidence all of the correspondence between the two. Finkel refuses, citing journalistic integrity and the promise he made to Longo.

At the trial, Longo takes the stand and describes his version of the events. He claims that, after an argument with his wife about financial struggles, he had come home to discover two of his children missing, one of his daughters unconscious, and his wife sobbing, saying that she put the children "in the water". Longo says that he strangled his wife to death in a blind rage, and performed a mercy killing on his daughter afterwards. During his testimony, he refers several times to techniques that Finkel had taught him during his writing lessons.

As the jury deliberates, Longo is visited in jail by Finkel's wife, Jill, who tells Longo that he is a narcissistic murderer who will never escape who he is.

Longo is found guilty of all charges and sentenced to death. As he is sentenced, he smiles and winks at Finkel. Finkel, to his shock and rage, realizes that Longo has been telling lies the entire time, using him in order to make his testimony more believable. A short time later, Finkel meets Longo on death row. Longo tries to convince Finkel that he discovered his wife strangling their daughter and then blacked out, having no memory of the murders. Finkel angrily tells Longo that he will not believe any more of his lies, and will warn the judge at the upcoming appeal of Longo's manipulative nature. Longo retorts by pointing out the success Finkel has had with his book about their encounters, leaving the reporter shaken.

Finkel reads a section of his book, entitled True Story, at a promotional event. Taking questions from the audience, he imagines Longo standing in the back of the room. Longo says that, if he has lost his freedom, Finkel must have lost something as well. Finkel is unable to respond.

Title cards reveal that although Finkel never wrote for the New York Times again, Longo has had several of his pieces written from death row published by the paper, including the "New York Times," and that Mike and Christian still talk to each other on the first Sunday of every month.

Cast

Production

Filming

Principal photography began in March 2013 in Warwick, New York and New York City.[4][5] Brad Pitt produced, along with several others, and Fox Searchlight Pictures distributed.[6]

Music

Marco Beltrami was hired on July 18, 2014, to score the film's music.[7]

"Se la mia morte brami," a madrigal by the Italian renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo plays an important role in the film. Gesualdo infamously murdered his wife and her lover and this biographical detail offers parallels to the narrative of the film.[8]

Release

The film was originally scheduled for a limited theatrical release on April 10, 2015.[9] That release date was subsequently delayed for one week in favor of a wide release.[10]

Critical reception

True Story has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 45%, based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "James Franco and Jonah Hill make a watchable pair, but True Story loses their performances — and the viewer's interest — in a muddled movie that bungles its fact-based tale."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 50 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]

References

  1. ↑ "TRUE STORY (15)". British Board of Film Classification. May 6, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ "True Story (2015)". The Numbers. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ Nicholson, Max. "Hill, Franco Join Pitt for True Story – Movies News at IGN". Movies.ign.com. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  4. ↑ "New Regency To Finance ‘True Story’ With Jonah Hill And James Franco". deadline.com. March 29, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  5. ↑ "First look at Jonah Hill & Felicity Jones filming ‘True Story’ in NYC". onlocationvacations.com. March 21, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  6. ↑ "The Brad Pitt-produced movie ‘True Story’ is filming in Warwick, NY this week". onlocationvacations.com. March 7, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Marco Beltrami to Score ‘True Story’". filmmusicreporter.com. July 18, 2014. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  8. ↑ William B. Ober, M.D. "Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa: Murder, Madrigals, and Masochism" in Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, Vol. 49, No. 7, July 1973, pp. 634–645
  9. ↑ "First Photos from True Story, Starring Jonah Hill and James Franco". comingsoon.net. December 16, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Theatrical Movie Schedule Additions and Changes". boxofficemojo.com.
  11. ↑ "True Story". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ "True Story". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 15, 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.