'True Story': A 'creepy' tale of murderer Christian Longo

'True Story' stars Jonah Hill and James Franco are unshowy and effective.

|
Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures
Jonah Hill (l.) as Michael Finkel and James Franco as Christian Longo in the film 'True Story.'

The true story behind “True Story” is a lot more resonant than the movie. Michael Finkel, whose eponymous 2005 memoir the film is based on, was a celebrated New York Times reporter until his magazine piece on modern slavery in Africa was revealed to be partly fictionalized through the use of composite characters. Picking up the pieces after his dismissal from the Times, Finkel happens upon a story almost too juicy to be true. 

Apparently an accused murderer, charged with killing his wife and two children in Oregon, has been picked up by authorities in Mexico. Here’s the juicy part: The accused, Christian Longo, has been passing himself off as Finkel.  

Finkel, the real one, is played by Jonah Hill; Longo is played by the ever-present James Franco. (Doesn’t he ever sleep?) Both are unshowy and effective, especially Franco, whose trademark bland affability is particularly appropriate here. Felicity Jones plays Finkel’s perplexed wife and, except for a big showdown scene with Longo near the end, is given too little to do. 

The crux of the movie is the unsettling enveloping relationship between Finkel and Longo, as Finkel, repeatedly interviewing Longo in prison, attempts to root out the truth in preparation for a book. Longo implies he is innocent but sets the condition that anything Finkel writes about him must postdate the upcoming murder trial. It’s not clear why he sets this condition, since anything that might absolve him of his crime would certainly help his case – one of many loose ends the film doesn’t tie up.  

Director Rupert Goold keeps things appropriately creepy, but “True Story” is no “Capote.” It’s all buildup with little payoff. Grade: B- (Rated R for language and some disturbing material.)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'True Story': A 'creepy' tale of murderer Christian Longo
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2015/0417/True-Story-A-creepy-tale-of-murderer-Christian-Longo
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe