Truth is a 2015 American political drama film written and directed by James Vanderbilt and starring Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Topher Grace, Elisabeth Moss, and Dennis Quaid.
The movie is about the news team for 60 Minutes II, led by producer Mary Mapes (Blanchett) and anchor Dan Rather (Redford), who do a report on President George W. Bush's military service prior to the 2004 election. However, they soon learn that the memos they relied upon to make the report might not have been authentic.
Truth provides examples of:
- Anger Born of Worry: A Tranquil Fury anger, but nonetheless – when Mapes sees Rather on TV doing live coverage of a hurricane and putting himself in danger, she says, "I'm gonna kill him."
- Avengers Assemble: As Mapes describes the team she's putting together, we see a montage of Lucy Scott, Lt. Col. Roger Charles, and Mike Smith at their current jobs.
- Catchphrase: "FEA", which Mapes and Rather often toast each other with, and is later revealed to mean, "Fuck 'em all."
- The Film of the Book: The film is based on Mary Mapes' 2005 memoir Truth and Duty: The Press, the President and the Privilege of Power.
- Media Scrum: Quoted by Mary Mapes.Mary Mapes: Our story was about whether the president fulfilled his service. Nobody wants to talk about that. They want to talk about fonts and forgeries, and they hope to God the truth gets lost in the scrum!
- Old Media Playing Catch-Up: The authenticity of the documents used to support the story in question were first doubted by bloggers.
- Spotting the Thread: Machines that could have produced the memos were rare and expensive in the early 1970s, and would not have been available to the Texas Air National Guard.
