Nothing But the Truth

Synopsis: Thinking Pulitzer Prize and hoping to bring down a President, D.C. political columnist Rachel Armstrong writes that the President ignored the findings of a covert CIA operative when ordering air strikes against Venezuela. Rachel names the agent, Erica Van Doren, a woman whose young daughter is in Rachel's son's class at school. The government moves quickly to force Rachel to name her source. She's jailed for contempt when she refuses. She won't change her mind, and the days add up. Chaos descends on Van Doren's life as well. First Amendment versus national security, marriage and motherhood versus separation. What's the value of a principle?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): Rod Lurie
Production: Paramount Pictures
  2 wins & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.2
Metacritic:
64
R
Year:
2008
108 min
701 Views


- Get those people out of the way!

- Go! Go! Go!

The President has been shot!

There were at least three gunshots.

There appear to be at least...

Get those people out of the f***ing way.

Let's go!

I'm all right.

To the van. Let's go! Let's go!

Was anyone else hit?

Go! Go! Go! Go!

- Call my wife. Tell her I'm okay.

- He got through security.

Repeat, he got through security.

- Tell her I'm okay.

- We will, Mr. President.

- God damn it!

- We'll call her.

MSNBC has confirmed

that a few minutes ago,

US war planes struck military bases

in Venezuela

in retaliation for the assassination attempt

on President Lyman three weeks ago.

Our Emily Boyd is on the ground in Caracas.

Emily, what are you hearing now?

Jim, as you can imagine, the situation

on the ground in Caracas

can be described as a state of chaos.

Apparently, President Lyman responded

to a CIA report

said to have overwhelmingly

and conclusively asserted

Venezuela's involvement

in the assassination attempt.

President Lopez's government...

Four bottles of milk on the wall

Four bottles of milk

You take one down, you pass it around

Three bottles of milk on the wall

Three bottles of milk on the wall

Oh, my God, this song.

Is this what we got in trouble for

in Abu Ghraib?

I don't know why anybody actually signed

up to be a room mother.

Yeah.

Hey, Timmy!

- What are you doing?

- Sorry, Mom.

Can you just, like,

sing along with everybody else?

I don't have a good voice.

Well, me, neither. Come on, sing along.

Come on.

- Mrs. Robinson?

- Yeah, what is it, dear?

Nicky Ludlow keeps pulling on my hair,

and he won't stop.

Well, just switch seats.

But the bus is full.

You know what, just stay right here. Okay?

I'll deal with it.

You're a tattletale!

- I am not!

- You just told on Nicky.

That's because he won't stop.

- You're a tattletale.

- Timmy, that's enough. Stop it.

- That's enough.

- But you're not supposed to tattle.

Well, you're not supposed

to have to put up with bullies, either.

Come on.

Capital Sun Times.

It's gonna be the Redskins.

You know what you call 53 people

watching the Super Bowl?

- No, sir.

- The Washington Redskins.

That's what you call them.

Larry, you should be supporting

the home team.

I would support the North Koreans

if they were playing

the Washington Redskins.

All right, Judy, give it four hours

as top story on the Net, I guess.

- Thank you, B.B.

- That's it, boss. I think.

Okay. Thanks, everybody.

Let's make it a good one.

Let me ask you a question.

How many Olympians do we have in town?

Oh, quite a few.

Rache, stick around a minute, would you?

You know there's that track star, right?

From Georgetown?

- Yeah.

- Okay, get on him, too, all right?

- Get the door for me, would you, Kelly?

- No problem.

Thanks.

Okay, Rache.

We're gonna fast track the story. Your story.

Really? When?

The New York Times has gotten hold

of some of the information,

so we're going to beat them to the punch.

Yeah.

Want to get it on the doorsteps tomorrow.

I mean, it's a killer story.

No, I know. It's Watergate. It's Iran-Contra.

It mean, it's a "holy sh*t" piece, Bonnie.

- It's gonna take them down.

- Rachel.

- Sorry. Gotta rein it in. I'm kind of excited.

- Okay, we gotta remain objective.

Well, fine. We'll objectively bring down

the White House.

What else do you need to do

to finish the story?

I gotta call the White House.

Of course, go to Van Doren herself.

Out of curiosity,

why haven't you spoken to her yet?

Avril, I already told you,

if we went to her too early,

we give the CIA time to shut the story down.

We go now, there's nothing they can do.

Okay. Look, legally the story is solid.

Everything is factually in line.

There's no libel.

Well, that's all that's important, right?

I wish you would let me know

who your source is on this.

A title, a job description.

Okay, look,

we have two confirming sources.

Rachel told me who they are,

and I'm comfortable with them.

We have Van Doren's letter

to the CIA director

that the Feds gave to Rachel.

- That's enough to go to press.

- It's your flip of the coin.

I'm just saying

that what you guys are okay with,

the government may not be.

The laws are murky.

I'm sorry, what?

It's illegal for a government official

to reveal the identity

of an undercover CIA agent.

Okay. Well, I'm not a government official.

I don't understand why you're bringing...

You know what?

We've already discussed this.

Bonnie's signed off on it.

As long as we all know

what we're dealing with.

All right, we know.

Okay, do you know how to find her?

Van Doren?

Yeah.

I'll go to her as soon as I get out of here.

Our kids go to school together,

if you can believe that.

- No sh*t?

- Yeah.

Okay, you feel comfortable

going to her for comment?

Absolutely.

Yeah! That's it! Come on! Pass it in!

- Stay open, Ali!

- Angela, pass it to me.

I got it! I got it!

Come on now! Push up! Push up!

Yes, Ali! Good job! Good job!

Kick it, honey! Kick it hard!

Good pass!

Spread out, girls! Spread out!

Get in there! Come on!

- Hey.

- Hello.

Oh, no. Defense! Come on, defense! Allison.

- She's doing great out there.

- Yeah.

- Every one of them chases the ball.

- Well, nobody likes defense.

Come on, Ali! Come on.

- She is in Mr. Cody's class. Right?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, my son, too.

- I see.

- Come on, Allison.

- There you go, there you go, honey!

Could we talk in private?

I'm with the Sun Times,

I need a few minutes.

It's kind of important.

Yeah. Sure.

I'm just concerned

she might have seen me slip away.

- I won't keep you long.

- Okay. So, what's up?

Erica, I'm writing a story.

I work for the national desk.

- Okay?

- Neat.

And it's gonna run tomorrow,

and it's gonna say, among other things,

that you are a CIA operative,

and that you went on a mission,

a fact-finding mission to Venezuela.

What? This is...

Hear me out, okay?

You went there on a fact-finding mission

to determine if its government

was responsible

for the assassination attempt

on President Lyman.

You determined it was not,

and you informed your bosses of this.

This is the stupidest B.S. I have ever heard.

Wait, wait. What? Can you...

How do I know

that you're from the Sun Times?

The White House ignored your findings

and launched an attack anyway,

still claiming retribution

for the assassination attempt.

I've been on the national desk for five years.

I have a column every Tuesday

on the editorial page.

My son goes to school here, too.

Yeah, I know. You said that.

You people.

You people! My God! You f***ing people!

You know, this isn't about me.

Once again, it's about my husband.

My source is impeccable.

Your source is 110% f***ing peccable.

I'm a CIA operative?

I can't even use the navigation system

in my Prius. This is... This is absurd!

Your paper... Your paper has been trying

to f*** my husband

ever since he spoke out

against this administration.

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Rod Lurie

Rod Lurie (born May 15, 1962) is an Israeli-American director, screenwriter and former film critic. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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