''True Story'' is a 2015 American
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Rupert Goold
Rupert Goold (born 18 February 1972) is an English director who works primarily in theatre. He is the artistic director of the Almeida Theatre, and was the artistic director of Headlong Theatre Company (2005–2013).
Early years
Goold was ...
in his directorial debut based on a screenplay by Goold and
David Kajganich
David Kajganich (born November 15, 1969) is an American screenwriter and producer. He has written several works in the horror genre, including the film ''Blood Creek'' (2009), and the network series ''The Terror'' (2018). He has also collaborated ...
. Based on the memoir of the same name by
Michael Finkel
Michael Finkel (born 1969) is a journalist and memoirist, who has written the books ''True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa'' (2005) and ''The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit'' (2017).
Career
Finkel was a wri ...
, it stars
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad (film), Superbad'' (2007), ''Knocked Up'' (2007), ''21 Jump Street (film), 21 Jump Stre ...
,
James Franco
James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Ma ...
and
Felicity Jones
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tele ...
, with
Gretchen Mol
Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ...
,
Betty Gilpin
Elizabeth Folan Gilpin (born July 21, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan in the Netflix comedy series '' GLOW'' (2017–2019), for which she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards f ...
and
John Sharian
John Sharian (born John Shahnazarian) is an English actor of Armenian descent. He appeared in the film '' The Machinist'' (2004).
Education
John Sharian attended the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut and later the Kenyon College in Gambier ...
in supporting roles.
Franco plays
Christian Longo
Christian Michael Longo (born January 23, 1974) is a convicted murderer who killed his wife and three children in Oregon.
Background
Originating from Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, Longo married Mary Jane Baker at age 19 and had three children w ...
, a man on the FBI's most-wanted list accused of murdering his wife and three children in Oregon. He hid in Mexico using the identity of
Michael Finkel
Michael Finkel (born 1969) is a journalist and memoirist, who has written the books ''True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa'' (2005) and ''The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit'' (2017).
Career
Finkel was a wri ...
, a journalist played by Hill. The film premiered at the 2015
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
and was released theatrically on April 17, 2015, in the United States. It explores the relationship that develops between the two men after journalist Finkel begins to meet with Longo in prison.
Plot
In 2001,
Christian Longo
Christian Michael Longo (born January 23, 1974) is a convicted murderer who killed his wife and three children in Oregon.
Background
Originating from Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, Longo married Mary Jane Baker at age 19 and had three children w ...
, an
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
man whose wife and three children have been discovered murdered, is arrested by police in Mexico, where he had been identifying himself as a reporter for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' named
Michael Finkel
Michael Finkel (born 1969) is a journalist and memoirist, who has written the books ''True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa'' (2005) and ''The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit'' (2017).
Career
Finkel was a wri ...
. Meanwhile, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, Finkel, an ambitious and successful reporter, is confronted by his editors about a cover story he has written for ''
New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' in which he has used a
composite character
In a work of media adapted from a real or fictional narrative, a composite character is a character based on more than one individual from the story.
Use in film
*Several characters in the movie '' 21''.
*The character Henry Hurt in the docudra ...
as the focus of his story, violating basic journalism principles. Finkel briefly attempts to defend his actions but is unsuccessful and is fired. He returns home to his wife Jill and struggles to find work as a journalist due to his public firing from the ''Times''.
In 2003, Finkel is contacted by a reporter for ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'', seeking his opinion on Longo's assumption of his identity. Unaware of Longo's case, Finkel is intrigued and arranges to meet Longo in prison. During their first conversation, Longo claims he has followed Finkel's career and admired his writing. Longo agrees to tell Finkel his side of the crimes he is accused of in exchange for writing lessons and Finkel's promise not to share their conversations until after the conclusion of the murder trial.
Finkel becomes increasingly absorbed with Longo, who is likable but evasive about his guilt. Convinced the story will be redemptive, Finkel visits Longo in prison and corresponds with him for several months. Longo sends Finkel numerous letters and an 80-page notebook entitled "Wrong Turns," which contains what Longo describes as a list of every mistake he has made. Finkel begins to recognize similarities between Longo and himself, their handwriting and drawing, and Longo's letters and Finkel's journals. As the trial approaches, Finkel becomes increasingly doubtful that Longo is guilty of the murders, and Longo informs Finkel that he intends to change his plea to not guilty.
In court, Longo pleads not guilty to two of the murders but pleads guilty to the murder of his wife and one of his daughters. Finkel confronts Longo, who claims he cannot share everything he knows because he has to protect certain people he refuses to name. Greg Ganley, the detective who tracked Longo down and arrested him, approaches Finkel and claims Longo is an extremely dangerous and manipulative man. He tries to convince Finkel to turn over as evidence all his correspondence with Longo. Finkel refuses, and Ganley does not press him for an explanation.
At the trial, Longo takes the stand and describes his version of the events in detail. After an argument with his wife about their financial situation, he claims he had come home to discover two of his children missing, one of his daughters unconscious, and his wife sobbing, saying she put the children "in the water." Longo says he strangled his wife to death in a blind rage. He says he thought his other daughter was dead at first but realized she was still breathing and strangled her as well because she was all but dead. Finkel's wife, Jill, watches Longo's testimony. As the jury deliberates, Jill visits Longo in jail and tells him he is a narcissistic murderer who will never escape who he is.
Longo is found guilty and sentenced to death. After he is sentenced, he winks at Finkel, who, to his shock and rage, realizes Longo has been lying throughout their conversations, using him to make his testimony more believable. A short time later, Finkel meets Longo on death row. Longo tries to convince Finkel he discovered his wife strangling their daughter and then blacked out, so he has no memory of the murders. Finkel angrily tells Longo he will not believe any more of his lies and will warn the judge, when Longo appeals against his sentence, of Longo's manipulative nature. Longo retorts by pointing out Finkel's success with his book about their encounters, leaving the reporter shaken.
Finkel reads a section of his book, ''True Story'', at a promotional event in a bookstore. Taking questions from the audience, he imagines Longo standing in the back of the room. Finkel is unable to respond. Longo says if he has lost his freedom, Finkel must have also lost something.
A year later, title cards reveal that Longo admitted to killing his entire family. The final title card says Finkel and Longo still speak on the first Sunday of every month. Finkel never wrote for the ''Times'' again, but Longo has contributed articles to several publications from death row, including the ''Times''.
Cast
*
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad (film), Superbad'' (2007), ''Knocked Up'' (2007), ''21 Jump Street (film), 21 Jump Stre ...
as
Michael Finkel
Michael Finkel (born 1969) is a journalist and memoirist, who has written the books ''True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa'' (2005) and ''The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit'' (2017).
Career
Finkel was a wri ...
*
James Franco
James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Ma ...
as
Christian Longo
Christian Michael Longo (born January 23, 1974) is a convicted murderer who killed his wife and three children in Oregon.
Background
Originating from Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, Longo married Mary Jane Baker at age 19 and had three children w ...
*
Felicity Jones
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tele ...
as Jill Barker
*
Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his roles in ''RoboCop 3'' (1993), '' Tombstone'' (1993), and '' Thinner'' (1996). During the 2000s Burke became well known for his portrayal of Mickey Gavin on '' Rescue ...
as Greg Ganley
* Connor Kikot as Zachary Longo
*
Gretchen Mol
Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ...
as Karen Hannen
*
Betty Gilpin
Elizabeth Folan Gilpin (born July 21, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan in the Netflix comedy series '' GLOW'' (2017–2019), for which she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards f ...
as Cheryl Frank
*
John Sharian
John Sharian (born John Shahnazarian) is an English actor of Armenian descent. He appeared in the film '' The Machinist'' (2004).
Education
John Sharian attended the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut and later the Kenyon College in Gambier ...
as Lincoln County Lobby Sheriff
*
Robert Stanton as Jeffrey Gregg
*
Maria Dizzia
Maria Teresa Dizzia (born December 29, 1974) is an American actress. Dizzia was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in ''In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)''.
Early life ...
as Mary Jane Longo
*
Genevieve Angelson
Genevieve Rose Angelson is an American actress, best-known for playing Indigo on ''The Afterparty (TV series), The Afterparty'', Patti Robinson on ''Good Girls Revolt'', and Ruth on ''Flack (TV series), Flack''.
Early life and education
Angelson ...
as Tina Alvis
*
Dana Eskelson
Dana Erika Eskelson (born in Brick, New Jersey) is an American television, film, and theatre actress.
Filmography
*''Past Midnight'' (1991)
*''Singles'' (1992)
*''To Sir, with Love II'' (1996)
*'' Exiled: A Law & Order Movie'' (TV, 1998)
*''C ...
as Joy Longo
*
Ethan Suplee
Ethan Suplee (; born May 25, 1976) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''American History X'', ''Remember the Titans'', ''John Q'', '' The Wolf of Wall Street'', ''Without a Paddle'', and several ...
as Pat Frato
* Joel Garland as Dan Pegg
*
Rebecca Henderson as Ellen Parks
* Charlotte Driscoll as Sadie Longo
*
Maryann Plunkett
Maryann Plunkett (born c. 1953) is an American actress and singer. Plunkett has performed on the stage both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has appeared in the entire play cycle of Richard Nelson's ''Apple Family Plays''. In 1987, she won the T ...
as Maureen Duffy
*
David Pittu
David Jonathan Pittu ( ro, Pitu; born April 4, 1967) is an American actor, writer and director.
Early life
Pittu was born and grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut where, as a high school senior, he was a finalist in the NFAA's Arts Recognition Tale ...
as Marcus Lickermann
Production
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began in March 2013 in
Warwick, New York
Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets ( Amity, Bellvale, Ed ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
produced, along with several others, and
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...
distributed.
Music
Marco Beltrami
Marco Beltrami (born October 7, 1966) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror (''Scream'', ''Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, A Quiet Place' ...
was hired on July 18, 2014, to write the film's music.
When Jill visits Longo in prison, she plays him a recording of "Se la mia morte brami" (If you desire my death), a madrigal by the Italian renaissance composer
Carlo Gesualdo
Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa ( – 8 September 1613) was Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza. As a composer he is known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chromatic language not heard again until the late 19th century ...
. She explains that despite its beauty she can not hear it without remembering the facts of the composer's life: that Gesualdo murdered his wife, her lover, and their child.
Release
The film was originally scheduled for a
limited theatrical release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on April 10, 2015. That release date was delayed for one week in favor of a
wide release In the American motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across the country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical re ...
.
Reception
Critical response
''True Story'' has received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has a rating of 45%, based on 169 reviews, with an average rating of 5.44/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "James Franco and Jonah Hill make a watchable pair, but ''True Story'' loses their performances—and the viewer's interest—in a muddled movie that bungles its fact-based tale." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 50 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Accolades
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:True Story
2015 films
2015 crime drama films
2010s legal drama films
2010s mystery drama films
2010s prison drama films
American films based on actual events
American crime drama films
American courtroom films
American legal drama films
American mystery drama films
American prison drama films
Crime films based on actual events
Drama films based on actual events
Mystery films based on actual events
Films about journalists
Films scored by Marco Beltrami
Films set in New York City
Films shot in New York City
Fiction about familicide
Plan B Entertainment films
Fox Searchlight Pictures films
Regency Enterprises films
2015 directorial debut films
Films directed by Rupert Goold
2010s English-language films
2010s American films