Strong roles, ideas drive thriller with twists, Oscar-worthy turns by Beckinsale, Farmiga

Alan Alda, Kate Beckinsale and Matt Dillon in "Nothing But the Truth."

Some 18 months after it was shot in Memphis and more than four months after its chances for a healthy theatrical release were shot down by the bankruptcy of its distributor, "Nothing But the Truth" -- writer-director Rod Lurie's ambitious thriller about the fractious relationship between free speech and national security -- has arrived on DVD.

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A special screening of "Nothing but the Truth," a movie shot in Memphis and directed by Rod Lurie, was shown at the Paradiso in February. Watch »

Photo by Photos courtesy Yari Film Group

As a resolute reporter, Kate Beckinsale (right) goes to jail rather than reveal a source for a story that rocks D.C. and reveals a CIA agent (Vera Farmiga). ''Nothing But the Truth" seemed on track to be the most successful feature yet from Rod Lurie.

The Sony Pictures Home Entertainment disc should find favor with audiences eager for movies driven by characterization, ideas and the performances of actors whose screen presence offers as much justification for the existence of cinema as any camera trick, flashy montage or special effect.

Kate Beckinsale -- whose performance here makes her as worthy of Best Actress Oscar recognition as any of this year's contenders (I would have bumped Angelina Jolie, nominated for "Changeling," to make way for Beckinsale) -- appears in almost every scene as Rachel Armstrong, a Washington reporter whose front-page story reveals the identity of a CIA agent (Vera Farmiga).

The revelation is a necessary component of a scoop suggesting that a U.S. air strike against Venezuela -- launched in retaliation to an assassination attempt against the president -- was motivated by false information, and "arguably the worst foreign policy decision in the nation's history," in the words of a TV newsman. Adding a personal element to the story is the fact that both Rachel and the spy are mothers, with children at the same school.

Some filmmakers would have shifted much of the action to the White House or other corridors of power, but Lurie keeps the focus -- both political and personal -- on Rachel, at work, at home, in court and, eventually, in jail. (Lurie is a former reporter and, yes, movie critic, as well as a West Point graduate who served in the Army, so he's not unsympathetic to national security concerns.)

After she refuses to cooperate with a federal special prosecutor (nicely underplayed by Matt Dillon, in a rare suit-and-tie role), Rachel is jailed on a contempt of court charge. Her celebrity First Amendment attorney (Alan Alda), a clothes horse in a hand-stitched Zegna suit and a de Grisogono wristwatch, assures her she'll be released any day, but the days drag into months, threatening Rachel's family life as well as her safety. The script's emphasis on fashion and jewelry makes sense when the stylish Rachel is handcuffed and shackled at the ankles, her new "accessories" offering a grim contrast to her wedding ring and impractical dress shoes.

Shot mostly on location and constructed primarily from economical long takes, "Nothing But the Truth" may be Lurie's most elegant film, although the "sets" are sometimes more authentic than interesting and the overreliance on close-ups becomes somewhat tiresome. The movie also is more successful at integrating the director's social-political concerns within a suspense narrative than such past Lurie films as "The Contender" and "Resurrecting the Champ."

"Those in power, whatever their politics, want only to perpetuate it, and the people are the victims," says the Alda character, before the Supreme Court, arguing for the necessity of a freely operating press. "What ... is the nature of government when it has no fear of accountability?"

In private, however, the lawyer tells Rachel: "In the old days, the public would have called you a hero. Somewhere along the line, the press stopped being the white knight and started being the dragon. That's the way people see it."

A surprise twist at the end of the film enhances the drama of Rachel's dilemma and adds several layers of ambiguity to the story, but it also dilutes the First Amendment absolutism of the movie's message by making Rachel's motives uncertain and her behavior sympathetic even to those who believe a reporter should be jailed for reporting facts that are embarrassing to a wartime president.

All other issues aside, the film is worth seeing for Farmiga's tart, witty, convincing performance, which becomes more impressive, entertaining and astonishing the more one sees the film. Farmiga's verbal fencing matches with Beckinsale and with the actors playing her CIA colleagues are the highlights of the movie; if Farmiga had been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, Penélope Cruz's victory would not have been such a fait accompli.

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