Product Details

• Actors: Kate Beckinsale, Vera Farmiga
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: April 28, 2009
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001PR0Y8K
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,880 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Nothing But the Truth" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A U.S. President itching to start a war... A confidential report telling the Administration the opposite of what it wants to hear... A Beltway wife outed to the press as a CIA operative... And another woman, a hotshot reporter, threatened with jail because she won't reveal her source... Yes, it does sound like the Bush-era case of Valerie Plame and New York Times journalist Judith Miller--and by the time you make it to the end of writer-director Rod Lurie's latest inside-Washington shadowplay, you may wish he'd served up that real-life story instead of half-baked fiction. Kate Beckinsale plays the reporter, a rising star with a ponytail and a Pulitzer-worthy scoop, "Watergate and Iran-Contra combined." The film's best scenes have her tussling with the Plame figure (the formidable Vera Farmiga). Lurie makes them soccer moms whose kids play together--a proto-feminist gesture befitting the creator of The Contender (the movie with Joan Allen as a Vice Presidential nominee battling a sex scandal) and Commander-in-Chief (the short-lived TV series featuring Geena Davis as America's first woman President). Nothing but the Truth trumpets its this-wouldn't-happen-to-a-man outrage but resorts to woman's-picture subplots involving weak, unreliable spouses--then compounds the lapse by leaving the male roles underdeveloped. Lurie seems to be working his way down a checklist of themes (sexism, the need to protect the freedom of the press, the way lives get left behind by the 48-hour news cycle) and possible impacts a person in Beckinsale's position might experience. Finally, his film is a make-your-own-movie kit leaving the viewer free to focus on favorite ingredients. Apart from Beckinsale and Farmiga, the name cast (Angela Bassett, Noah Wyle, et al.) is mostly reduced to revving their engines, though Matt Dillon scores as a special prosecutor mixing folksiness and cold calculation, while Alan Alda gets to showboat as a legendary defense attorney. The widescreen setups abound in irritating mannerisms and pointless foreground clutter, but since cameraman Alik Sakharov did clean work throughout the epic run of HBO's The Sopranos, the blame must lie with the director. And that's the truth. --Richard T. Jameson

Product Description

Inspired by true events. Kate Beckinsale and Academy Award® nominee Matt Dillon (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Crash, 2004) lead an all-star cast in this explosive story about a Washington, D.C. reporter who faces a possible jail sentence for outing a CIA agent and refusing to out her source. The all-star cast includes Academy Award® nominees Alan Alda (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for The Aviator, 2004), Angela Bassett (Best Actress in a Leading Role for What's Love Got to Do with It, 1993); Emmy® Award nominee David Schwimmer (Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Friends, 1994), Golden Globe® nominee Noah Wyle (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture for ER, 1997-99) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What most other commentaries missed, September 7, 2009

By	GatheringTree - See all my reviews

**This entire comment is a SPOILER and best not to be read if you have not seen the movie or if you intend to see it.**

Throughout the movie, controversy is raised by lines being drawn between duty, occupation, integrity, and simple human decency. Sometimes these lines are crossed, depending on your point of view. Nonetheless, the viewer is looking for a strong protagonist and antagonist, which is not revealed and this is frustrating.

Most of the reviews I've read have completely misinterpreted the ending. They think it was based on the integrity of journalist confidentiality, the 1st amendment, etc. This may be because the entire movie, indeed, seemed to be about these things. All the way up to a very moving supreme court speech. So stirring that it might even persuade some viewers who were against the jailed reporter to turn to her side. It is, however, the misunderstanding of the astonishing ending which leaves viewers with a feeling of absurdity and a incorrect overall conclusion upon which many commentaries are based.

In fact, the ending made it quite clear what was going on the entire time. It also brought out who the antagonist was hands down. The movie portrays what happens when an irresponsible opportunistic journalist, in a highly responsible position, stumbles into two sources (the main source is an elementary school girl, who is the daughter of the woman she is going to expose; and a drunken high official semi-corroborator who agrees to go on record). This hand dealt to her tempts her to write a story of Pulitzer caliber.

The journalist arrogantly believes that she is untouchable if her story goes to press and sloughs off the warnings of the in-house advisor. Her INITIAL resolve to protect her little girl source is boosted by a highly-reputable lawyer who assures her things won't get that bad; and, a sense of glory-seeking attitude. When things don't work out that way, a mother/CIA operative is murdered, families are broken up, national spotlights are in place, and Pulitzer nominations are given. (And, here is where other commentaries have missed it). Her FINAL resolve to protect her source, however, is quite different. At this point, revealing her true source would actually bring great ridicule and humiliation to this journalist. She even lies about the life-long consequences to her source (a child) should she be exposed.

In the end, things have gotten so bad for the, now criminalized, journalist that the consequences of revealing her young naïve source, who would never have been prosecuted in the first place, pales by comparison to the alternative of years of imprisonment. She buckles and gives in. The resulting national ridicule on this person is left to your imagination.

The ending of the movie is someone analogous to the feelings that the students, parents, and teachers end up with in the movie, "The World's Greatest Dad", starring Robin Williams. This is not a spoiler because I am referring to the fictitious players in the movie. The viewers already know the real story. Nevertheless, both movies leave you with a huge pointless feeling.

This really was a great movie and well played, especially by Matt Damon and the Antagonist, who really come across a bit callous. But, I am only giving it 2 stars because, like "Groundhog Day," another all-time great movie, it was not written well enough for most people to "get it."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must-see DVD, April 16, 2009

By	Thelma Adams (Hyde Park, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The smart, engrossing political thriller in the tradition of All the President's Men has a welcome female twist: two working mommies -- one a DC journalist (Kate Beckinsale), one a CIA agent (Vera Farmiga) -- cross paths on their kids' soccer field with disastrous results. Beckinsale clearly doesn't need a rubber catsuit to be terrific; she's focused, genuine, and sympathetic as the investigative reporter whose first big scoop crumples the career and family of her spook subject, with plenty of collateral damage in her own life when she goes to prison for withholding her source's name. And The Departed's Farmiga balances between dangerous adversary and wounded mother in a volatile supporting role.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drama Based on Newspaper Headlines, May 23, 2009

By	The Movie Man "tenebre89" (Maywood, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews

"Nothing But the Truth" is based on the events surrounding the prison sentence of "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller after she refused to reveal the source who identified undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Prompted by a failed assassination attempt on the President of the United States, investigative reporter Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) discovers that a neighborhood woman is a CIA operative. Rachel believes she has happened upon the Big Story, and is backed by her editor (Angela Bassett), the newspaper's legal counsel (Noah Wyle), and her First Amendment lawyer (Alan Alda). Federal prosecutor Patton Dubois (Matt Dillon) wants her to name her sources. She refuses and is thrown in jail for contempt of court. She thinks she will soon be released, but as her incarceration lengthens, her relationship with husband (David Schwimmer) and son (Preston Bailey) starts to deteriorate.
Performances are first-rate in this tense political thriller. Beckinsale is sympathetic as the idealistic yet frightened reporter, but Dillon dazzles as the Javert-like Fed who will use anything and everything within his power to break the reporter's will. The changing relationship between Rachel and her family gives the film humanity and elevates it from a mere "ripped from the headlines" flick to one of depth.
Bonus extras include deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, and filmmakers' commentary.