James Franco & Jonah Hill Go Comically Grim in 'True Story' (Review)

James Franco and Jonah Hill are best known for their comedies including Pineapple Express, Superbad and This is the End. While James Franco has kept a balance between comedies and more serious films, Jonah Hill only recently dabbled in other genres namely in Bennett Miller's Moneyball (which happens to be my favorite film of 2011). Separately, it's not hard to separate their dramatic work from their bro-comedies. But as seen together, it's tough not to be reminded of the films that made them popular.

True Story is, essentially, a true story (at least based on one). The film is directed by Rupert Goold, an English theatre and TV director making his feature debut. The script is by Goold and David Kajganich, based on the memoirs of writer Michael Finkel. The film stars Hill as Finkel, Franco as serial killer Christian Longo and Felicity Jones as Finkel's wife Jill.

New York Times journalist Finkel is fired after fabricating parts of a story he wrote about child slaves in Africa. He goes to Minnesota where his wife lives, attempting to get another job. But then a reporter from The Oregonian contacts him, telling that a man accused of killing his family was picked up in Mexico. The guy, Christian Longo, used Finkel's identity as an alias. Intrigued, Finkel goes to Oregon to visit Longo in jail and the two make a deal: Longo will tell Finkel the truth about what happened to his family if Finkel will teach him to write.

The premise is pretty interesting. The film dabbles in questions about truth and lies, both in writing and spoken. Considering how far away from this movie is from Franco and Hill's star personas, I was hoping more would be made of casting these two real-life friends in such an antagonistic but not totally relationship. The set-up had the potential for a Black Swan type exploration of identity and career and the relationships among guys who manipulate and use each other.

Instead, the casting of James Franco and Jonah Hill doesn't really add up to much besides "here are two actors who happened to be cast in the same movie." And that's fine I guess. But if you're going to bring two guys together who are known for dude-tastic comedies for a really serious mystery thriller, you have to know that they bring lots of baggage. While watching this film, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. But at the end of the day, this movie would not have been changed much with a different pair of actors.

For that reason, their performances feel over the top serious, as director Goold had no idea who he was directing. Now, I love when actors branch out of their comfort zone (though I'm more impressed when dramatic actors do comedy like Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel). Jonah Hill has trouble reining himself in and acts like he's aping Oscar bait performances. He's not bad but this material swallows all of his strengths as a performer. I like Jonah Hill but here he seems to be gasping for some kind of levity.

Franco's "is it nap time yet?" onscreen persona is used to good effect here; his lack of conviction make Longo a mysterious character and much of the film is spent trying to figure out just what he is getting at. He's a bit more confident in this role than Hill is in his role and he finds a good balance of being shady and deceptively charming. This is probably Franco's best performance, second only to his tour de force in 127 Hours.

The movie can be pretty vague, as to character motivations. Now I don't need a movie to tell me what's going on but absolute blankness does not always work. Take for instance a confrontation between Franco and Felicity Jones that does not make any sense on any level. Why is this happening? What is the reason for these two characters to even be having this discussion? Felcicity Jones, a recent Oscar nominee, is a good actress but even she can't compensate for weak and incompetent writing.

Director Rupert Goold owes some of this film to Zodiac and Capote. The effective silences, the drab color scheme, the exploration of journalism and truth-telling reminded me of those older (and superior) films. That's not a knock on True Story. The best thing this movie has going for it is its mood and atmosphere. I liked a lot of this film's style. The filmmakers made an effort to make this movie look beatiful in its ugliness. If only the writing were a bit stronger.

At its best, True Story is gripping mystery that remains elusive. With a convincing performance from James Franco and a atmosphere of dread and confusion. It has its faults but it remains an interesting movie throughout and should generate some good discussion afterwards. True Story is not something you have to rush out and see in the theater. It's a film perfectly suited for Netflix browsing; you can see two familiar guys try something new with their chemistry.

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