Review of Nothing But the Truth (2008) by Seth R — 13 Mar 2010

Other than some wooden dialogue placed in the mouth of Alan Alda, once again typecast here as a kind of all-knowing liberal demigod, this is a pretty captivating thriller with a competent performance by Kate Beckinsale and terrific ones by Matt Dillon, David Schwimmer and America's greatest unappreciated actress, Vera Farmiga.

The script bites off more than it can chew -- it wants to be an epic story about the struggle for principled behavior versus the cost that can extract upon others -- and in that sense it is a failure, as the story just can't bear that weight.

But otherwise it's a sleeper of an intelligent entertainment, with some deft camera work by director Rob Lurie, who loves framing closeups to reveal character.