Has anyone here seen the movie Truth, made last year?

Last edited Sun Aug 28, 2016, 04:57 PM - Edit history (2)

If I heard anything about this film, when it was released last fall, it must have been so brief that I never followed up on it. I don't remember it playing in any theatres near me, though maybe the run was short enough that I missed it. According to the Wikipedia entry (I can't seem to link it here, but it's under Truth (2015 film)), CBS refused to publicize the film.

The movie is based on the memoirs of Mary Mapes, the 60 Minutes producer who headed the story reported by Dan Rather about GW Bush's evasion of service in Vietnam thanks to family influence and connections getting him into the Texas Air National Guard.

I happened on the movie this morning on one of the STARZ cable channels and ended up watching it all the way through. It was difficult to watch, bringing back, as it did, memories of that divisive and scary time before the 2004 election. JK is glimpsed on a TV in the background once or twice and reference is made to the Kerry campaign, but otherwise the story is more about the effect of the political climate at the time on news reporting and those at the top of the corporations who controlled/paid for it and destroyed careers rather than risk disfavor from the White House. I had forgotten how frustrating it was back then to watch the Swift Boat bastards getting all the airtime while a story by a veteran news team was reduced to criticism of technicalities rather than further investigated on its own merits by other news operations. I had forgotten how awful it was to watch Dan Rather being forced to apologize for serious journalism in a time of corporate news.

Here is a preview of the film on YouTube: