Review: James Vanderbilt Gets Fuzzy With The 'Truth' Starring Cate Blanchett And Robert Redford

Some have already built the coffin and engraved the tombstone for traditional journalism. With network news divisions and daily newspapers cutting their budgets, coupled with the rise of online reporting, the landscape has changed and expanded, allowing more voices to participate in narratives that were once controlled by only a select few gatekeepers. This new era is still in its nascent stages, and certainly, the broadened field of those who call themselves “journalists” doesn’t always adhere to the strictest of journalistic standards. Many in the media lament this supposed loss of consistency in this new school of reporters, but taking that line paints an inaccurate portrait of the old way of doing things. However, it’s a myth writer/director James Vanderbilt is more than happy to reinforce in his unambiguously titled, “Truth.”

Based on the memoir by Mary Mapes, which also features an unambiguous title, “Truth And Duty,” the film tells the headline-grabbing story about the “60...