'TRUE STORY': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
A dramatic crime-thriller, starring Jonah Hill and James Franco! It definitely takes a little while to get used to. The story revolves around a reporter investigating a man accused of murdering his wife and children, in Oregon, for a book he's writing. It's based on the memoir of Michael Finkel, the reporter that Hill plays in the film; while Franco plays the accused killer. The movie was directed by Rupert Goold and scripted by David Kajganich and Goold. It's a bit of a mess, but it's still worth watching and interesting enough (in some ways).
Michael Finkel (Hill) was a rising successful reporter, working for the New York Times, until his employers discovered he falsified information in one of his stories; he was terminated because of it. He later learned that a man, named Christian Longo (Franco), was using his name to hide out under, in Mexico, until he was arrested for murdering his wife and children. He was fascinated by this and decided to meet Longo, while he was being held in a prison, in Oregon. Upon meeting Finkel, Longo told the reporter that he'd tell him his side of the story, if he taught him how to write; and kept everything he told him a secret. Finkel agreed to the arrangement, because he saw it as a big opportunity to get his career back on track. He quickly learned that Longo, and his stories, were not as they first appeared.
At first I definitely didn't buy Hill, in the dramatic leading man role; but I couldn't decide if it was me not giving him enough of a chance, or Hill not being the right actor for the part. I also didn't think much of Franco's acting, in this movie, at first either. Then seeing the two of them, on screen together, made the movie seem even less realistic. After some time, a lot of it, I finally found their characters believable, and I became fully intrigued in the movie as well. By this time the movie was almost over though; it does come to a pretty satisfying and entertaining conclusion at least. I think it's nice to see Hill and Franco doing diversifying work, and I think they're both good in this movie, but they're a lot better in other films (especially their comedic work; that's what they're both best at). As for the movie itself, the script could have used some more rewrites and the directing isn't that impressive either; the director and co-writer are both pretty inexperienced though (so it's somewhat understandable).
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