True “Comedy”

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Abril Chuvac in Entertainment

Peter Galindo

Chronicle Reporter

True Story, which premieres Apr. 17, is a movie about an accused killer named Chris Longo (James Franco) who, when caught, is using the identity of New York Times writer Michael Finkel (Jonah Hill). Finkel becomes interested in Longo’s case and wants to write a book about it. Throughout the movie, there are scenes between Longo and Finkel where Finkel interviews Longo in prison. The actors tried to desperately create tension, but they do not succeed.

The idea for this movie seemed to be interesting, but the casting was a major misstep as the casting director chose people that are usually in comedic roles. They could not hold up their dramatic characters. The audience was even confused as to whether it was a comedy or crime drama. It was not  a comedy as it had a very serious tone and only provided minimal comic relief. The dramatic scenes were funny which diminished these serious actors.

The other wrong turn that this movie took was creating unnecessary characters. Jill (played by Felicity Jones) is Michael Finkel’s girlfriend. The movie tried to include her and make her seem important, but she amounts to nothing as she has one monologue criticizing Longo for the accusations towards him. The FBI agent who was working to get Longo prosecuted had absolutely no prominence in the story. While I realize this movie centralizes around Michael Finkel and his experiences, there should have been more to do with the man that was trying to convict the killer.

The movie desperately tried to give a sense of ambiguity as to whether Longo committed the crime or not. The combination of the performances and the writing is just not convincing. The movie was not terrible, but it could have been much better as the story.  Some of the cinematography was great as it had some really interesting shots including the first couple scenes, which were done quite nicely. There were also some points in the movie where it seemed to “hold the audience’s hand” through the story and didn’t let them realize certain things for themselves.

I do not detest this movie, but I would not pay for it. I would probably watch it on a lazy sunday afternoon on Netflix and not waste money on a movie ticket. This movie had so much potential and I wish it had been executed better. To read more about the movie visit the IMDB page.