Review of A Dark Truth (2012) by Rich C — 03 Jan 2013

January has not always been the best month for new releases as studios tend to shove out junk movies around this time. A Dark Truth is one of those junk movies that has no idea what it wants to be with a message that doesn't get across correctly. I just can't help but wonder why this film was even given a theatrical release given its poor production values.

A Dark Truth is about a former CIA operative turned political talk show host is hired by a corporate whistle blower to expose her company's cover-up of a massacre in a South American village. Now the premise is not the most original, but some of the ideas presented in this film can be applied to the real world. Except you're not going to pay attention because it's cliche and devoid of any entertainment. It's the usual corporation are evil kind of movie which would be fine if it knew what kind of film it wanted to be. It fails as an action movie for it moves tediously slow. It also fails in the action department for action scenes don't have any kind of buildup and the guns sound effect sound more like paintball guns that actual weapons. It would also fail as a thriller since the one character the film chooses to developed is uninteresting. He's the usual CIA agent who's trying to patch things up with his family, a family that contains no real weight in the film. We know the characters we're following are going to live with a shed of doubt making it devoid of any thrills. So exactly what kind of film is this? It's one that has the quality of a poor movie that believe it is better than it actually is.

The cast which contains Andy Garcia, Forest Whitaker, Eva Longoria, and many more who are phoning it in. The cast is entirely bland, even when Whitaker gets shot it he doesn't put any kind of effort. There's a scene in particular where Kim Coates character gets angry about an exchange and throws a temper tantrum as if he discovered a dumb YouTube video. The gun fights are unconvincing. The actors simply just point the guns any where and sometime entirely in the wrong direction clearly appearing as if the they miss the targets. It's astonishing when a film editor is force to make poor action scenes convincing when how they are staged works against them. I also have a good feeling that this film was originally meant to be release in 2011 but was shelve for some unexplained reason. It's clearly evidence near the end by the obvious promotion to Adam Sandler's Jack and Jill in which the shot shows for a long time making it hard to miss. So without question, poor production values with a poor story makes for a poor experience.

A Dark Truth is honestly bad for a film that obviously was made two years ago very poorly and release today to likely receive a even poorer critical reaction. There's a reason this film was shelved for two years and should have stayed that way.