Nothing but the Truth

Nothing but the Truth is a 2008 American political drama film written and directed by Rod Lurie. The film stars Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett, Alan Alda and Vera Farmiga. According to comments made by Lurie in The Truth Hurts, a bonus feature on the DVD release, his inspiration for the screenplay was the case of journalist Judith Miller, who in July 2005 was jailed for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating a leak naming Valerie Plame as a covert CIA operative, but this was merely a starting point for what is primarily a fictional story. In an April 2009 interview, Lurie stressed: "I should say that the film is about neither of these women although certainly their stories as reported in the press went into the creation of their characters and the situation they find themselves in." The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2008. It was scheduled to open in New York City and Los Angeles on December 19, but because distributor Yari Film Group filed for Chapter 11 protection, it was never given a theatrical release. Plot President Lyman is shot in an assassination attempt. In retaliation, the United States bombs Venezuela, accusing that country of instigating the attack. Rachel Armstrong, an ambitious reporter for the Washington D.C. paper Capital Sun-Times, is preparing to publish a report that alleges that the Lyman administration knowingly lied to Congress and the American public by blaming Venezuela for the assassination attempt, and that the Administration received a CIA report by an operative who had investigated the Venezuela connection and found that they were not at all linked to the assassination attempt. The report also reveals that the CIA operative is Erica Van Doren, whose daughter Alison attends the same school as Timmy, Rachel's son. Rachel confronts Van Doren at a soccer match, and requests confirmation. Erica refuses to cooperate but gives herself away by losing her temper over "irresponsible journalists".