True Story – When Two Wrongs Don’t Create A Right

True Story tells the, well, true story of ex New York Times reporter Michael Finkel (Jonah Hill) and killer Christian Longo (James Franco). Finkel begins visiting Longo in jail when he gets a call telling him that Longo one of FBI’s most wanted was found using his name as an Alias in Mexico.

The story begins with Finkel, a star in the journalism world, whose stories have graced 10 covers at the New York Times. We see him in action in Africa interviewing the subjects for his tenth cover story. When he gets frustrated he becomes extremely obnoxious and tells one of the young boys that he will give him $20 after the interview is over if he gives him everything that he’s asking for. He also keeps telling them that he’s “Michael Finkel of The New York Times” as if that should mean anything to these children whose everyday lives include unfathomable atrocities. Giving them a voice and sharing their story is crucial but Finkel seems more concerned with getting out of there and having the interview over with. After its publication, the story is found to contain several “holes” by a non-profit working in the region. Finkel’s argument with his editor is that he combined several stories to be one boy’s perspective and doesn’t correctly identify the boy in his photographs because he felt like it’s the right thing to do to get the most compelling story. He deservedly gets fired.

We see him trying to pitch stories to his connections and hear the dismissal in his voice when they turn him down because of the “incident”. He seems to feel that his falsifying information is something everyone should just get over because he wasn’t questioned in any of his other “hit” stories. He gets a phone call one day asking him if he’d like to provide an opinion on the capture of Michael Longo. Confused, he asks why and is told that Longo has been telling people he was Finkel while hiding away in Mexico.

Finkel decides that this might be his chance to get his name back out there. His narcissism elevates, as he’s also flattered that someone would impersonate him. After a few meetings he gets the idea to pitch a book about their encounters and it’s given a green light by publisher Harper Collins.  The rest of the movie is focused on Finkel’s and Longo’s conversations along with flashbacks.

Longo is accused of killing his wife and three children. He goes back and forth with showing remorse, and is seemingly detached from what happened. The doubt about his innocence is what makes Finkel and the audience hooked throughout. Longo even gives the impression that he is “willing” to admit guilt only to protect someone. Finkel is salivating at the thought of vindicating Longo. However, Longo never states whether or not he did it prior to the court case. They talk about mundane stuff, writing techniques, and their lives. The bromance gets exhausting to watch.

It’s finally revealed whether he did it or not and it feels like Finkel is infuriated that his story won’t end with him throwing back drinks with Longo in a bar somewhere. We’re provided details of the horrific murders and re-created photos and videos are shown on screen. These moments are hard to watch unless you forgot that these were real victims being depicted.

It’s hard to say what the expected feelings of this film were. There’s nothing extraordinary or fascinating about the fact that these two got close. If you read up on who Longo was as a person he had always been a charming liar and Finkel, well, who knows since he had the luxury of not having his previous stories speculated. He says in interviews that he feels remorse about the “incident”. In an NPR interview he stated, “It was a story that broke some of the rules of journalism in The New York Times and a very foolish decision.” Personally, I thought it broke the rules for journalism in general. It sounds like he’s still making excuses for himself.

In the end Finkel got what he wanted, published again with a nice sum attached. Longo got a writing mentor and someone who seems to need him. The audience is provided updates after the movie ends and it turns out that they still speak to each other when Longo calls Finkel on the first Sunday of every month. Longo began to write and has contributed articles to several publications including The New York Times from prison.

Starring: James Franco, Jonah Hill, Felicity Jones

Directed by: Rupert Goold

Written by: Michael Finkel (memoir), Rupert Goold (screenplay), David Kajganich

MPAA rating: R

Running time: 100 min

Rating: 3/5

NPR story referenced: http://www.npr.org/