True Story

I read a lot of newspapers, every week. I might be the only one in the family who actually sits down and read a real newspaper in paper, instead of reading it on computer. I do read articles and news online of course, but i still prefer reading on paper. I have a feeling it might have something to do growing up reading my grandfathers favourite paper Göteborgsposten, that i aslo subscribed for almost 15 years, and i still have it. I used to subscribe to Time Magazine for many years, because i loved their stories and interviews with people worldwide. When you read about what is going on in the world, you also get a different view on what is happening. Most of the time it is mostly about terrible things, but there are sunshine stories. One story that keeps coming back, is how fraud people use other peoples identities, to use them in many different ways. You would think they can catch all of them, but there are so many, police don´t have resources. But what if someone used your identity, while killing people for his own pleasure, and you have no idea someone killed in your name ? This does sound like a nightmare, but this actually happened when New York Times journalist Michael Finkel, found out a killer Christian Logo, used his name while murdering victims. Michael decided to find out more about Christian, and met him during his prison visits. I am one of those people who is always interested in seeing true stories, being filmed into movie adaptions. It is not guaranteed to be good all the time, but sometimes it can be very fascinating to go inside the story, to get a glimpse of what happened. Since i heard nothing about this film in the press, i still decided that it seemed interesting enough to take a look at. Especially because i saw that James Franco is on board, an actor i really respect for his many great performances. With no promotion at all, is True Story a very interesting look at a disturbing case, or is this a film that could have given us so much more with all this potential ?

Michael Finkel ( Jonah Hill ) is a very ambitious and successful reporter. After writing an article in The New York Times, he becomes praised by readers and other journalists. Until, inside information comes out that he might actually have written an article, with the wrong person being interviewed. Michael tries to tell his side of the story, that he knows he got the right person on the picture. They decide to let Michael Finkell go, and force him to quit. The rumour spreads, and no papers wants to hire Michael for any journalist mission. With no jobs, and nothing left to hold on to, it seems like he needs to start a new life. Until one day, when Michael gets a phone call from Another journalist, who says that a serial killer, who killed his wife and 3 Children, have been arrested in Mexico. The man known as Christian Logo ( James Franco ), have used Finkel´s name, while being on the run. Michael see his oppertunity, to make an interview with Christian, to find out why he did this, and also write a story that might get him back on top. While the interviews begin, is Christian really telling the truth, or is Michael being fooled so he can just sell more papers ?

I actually did not know anything about this film, until it got released. And considering with such great actors as Jonah Hill and James Franco , i am very surprised that people have not talked about the film True Story. This is actually a really good film, based on true facts surrounding journalist Michael Finkel. The style of the film, reminds me of Dead Man Walking, a fantastic drama film from 1995 by director Tim Robbins. You followed 2 different personalities in that film, one being the convicted killer, and the other Sister Helen, a woman who tries to help people with faith. The differences with this film, and with True Story, is that Michael Finkel managed to become a respectable journalist, thanks to Christian Logo´s fake personality. I really had no idea what to expect while watching this film, since there have been no talk about it, at least not here in Sweden. Usually when you see no interviews, no press promotion for a new film, that could be a warning sign. In this case, i don´t understand why this film was not shown in swedish cinemas. Because this is a damn good thriller drama, with acting on a high level, especially from Jonah Hill. In the past, i was not a big fan of some releases from Jonah Hill, until he made 21 Jump Street. James Franco is of course good as always, he can take on any character and make it his own. Knowing that this actually happened, makes the story more interesting, because how do you handle the situation when a serial killer used your name while killing victims ? I can´t imagine how Michael Finkel must have felt, this must have been devastating. Director Rupert Goold is not really known for any big budget film productions, because he is more known for his theatre projects. In fact, he have directed over 40 theatre productions since the 90´s, so he clearly have a big passion for theatre. When it comes to films, he have directed to tv movies, Macbeth and Richard III, 2 films i have not seen so far. True Story proves that he have an eye for telling interesting stories, and that he manage to capture the feeling from both sides. You get the perspective from Michael Finkel, and you also get to see Christian Logos personality. Could we have digged deeper into the truth ? Sure, but the message is still clear, this was a very disturbing case, and i don´t think you will know the whole truth anyway. With great looking cinematography, and with high class acting, True Story gives you a fascinating look in a case that shocked the world. Who knows, my own personal information could be stolen at anytime. If Edward Blom steals it, i would be ok with that, since he is a legend.

Rating: DDDD