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Actress Kate Beckinsale talks with "Nothing But The Truth" director Rod Lurie on the set in The Commercial Appeal newsroom in October 2007.
Writer-director Rod Lurie returned to Memphis on Wednesday for a special cast-and-crew screening of his topical thriller, "Nothing But the Truth," and a luncheon meeting with journalists, lawyers and other to discuss the First Amendment issues raised by the film.
The 7:30 p.m. screening at the Malco Paradiso -- organized as a sort of "thank you" to Mid-Southerners who had participated in the production -- likely will be the film's only big-screen presentation in Memphis: The movie was left in theatrical limbo after its U.S. distributor, the Yari Film Group, was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December.
Photo by Mike Brown
Actress Kate Beckinsale talks with "Nothing But The Truth" director Rod Lurie on the set in The Commercial Appeal newsroom in October 2007.
"We've more or less been a victim of a drive-by shooting," Lurie, 46, said at a luncheon at The University Club.
However, everyone will be able to see "Nothing But the Truth" soon: The movie comes to DVD April 28 on the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment label. The disc includes a commentary track and bonus features that may be of special interest to Memphis extras who didn't make the final cut: deleted scenes and a making-of featurette.
A journalism thriller with an all-star cast headed by Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett and Vera Farmiga, "Nothing But the Truth" was shot at the Shelby County Correction Center, in the courtroom of U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald, in the offices of The Commercial Appeal and at other Mid-South locations in October and November of 2007.
The company spent almost $3.5 million in Memphis and employed 87 local crew members, according to figures filed with the Memphis and Shelby County Film & Television Commission.
Although one shocking scene in the film is set in Memphis, for the most part the Mid-South is used as a stand-in for the script's Washington and Virginia locations. Lurie said the tax breaks and financial incentives offered by Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina continue to make those states more attractive for filmmakers than Tennessee, but "Nothing But the Truth" could be "very helpful" for demonstrating to production companies that Memphis and Tennessee should be "high on the list" for people making films that take place in Washington.
"Without Judge Donald, we could not have shot in Memphis," he said, saying that the cost of constructing a courtroom set would have made South Carolina a more economical location.
In "Nothing But the Truth," Beckinsale plays a reporter who goes to jail rather than reveal her source for a controversial story that outs a CIA agent. "The principal emotional struggle of the film is her destroying her family in defense of her principles," said Lurie, a former reporter and film critic.
The film champions the watchdog role of a free press. A crusading lawyer played by Alan Alda in the movie states: "Imprisoning journalists -- that's for countries that fear their citizens." Lurie said the press is one of the only institutions that can hold people in power accountable to the people over whom they wield power.
Lurie said his next project will be a remake of Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs," set in the South. Lurie -- who shot his 2001 film, "The Last Castle," with Robert Redford, near Nashville -- said he'd like to return to Tennessee for a third time for "Straw Dogs," but "the decision's not up to me."
He said he's also planning a film that will detail the friendship that existed between the young John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon before they became political rivals, and a remake of "Jesus Christ Superstar."
The Wednesday events were organized by the Memphis and Shelby County Film & Television Commission, with sponsorship by Malco Theatres, FedEx, Pinnacle Airlines and The Commercial Appeal.
-- John Beifuss: 529-2394
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