Americans continue to be fascinated with criminal trials. We like it when the defendant wins; we like it when the defendant hangs; we like when the jury is unanimous; we like it when the jury is angry; we like a hangin’ judge; we like grandma judge; and we love all of it so much that we hate jury duty, ‘cuz it just ain’t the same.
Today’s film is 80% courtroom. It begins and ends with the same trial: a teen is accused of murdering his father. And everyone is saying he did it, which would include the teen (Gabriel Basso) if he were saying anything at all. So … is the “mystery” part where we guess why he did it? Because mysteries are more fun when don’t know stuff. Here, we’ve got the kid with the hand on the murder weapon saying: “I should have done this a long time ago.” It’s like your Clue game starting with Colonel Mustard holding the lead pipe over Mr. Boddy and challenging: “guess what room I did it in?”
Ah, but there’s more here, ,cuz Keanu Reeves showed up. Another thing Americans love is Keanu Reeves, lawyer. Ramsey (Reeves) has a fight-of-his-life situation going on because the kid won’t talk. Like ever. And the little punk seems pretty smug about it as well. Gee, well, so long as you’re good with prison-for-life, pal. In addition, there’s this little tidbit – the kid’s mom (Renée Zellweger) was in the adjacent bathroom when the murder was committed … what a coincidence! … and dad, the victim (Jim Belushi), was an abusive father/husband. Well gee, that couldn’t mean anything, right?
Can lawyer Keanu get The Whole Truth out of Mike (Basso)? Or does he have to bring in a human lie detector (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) to figure out whether Mike’s perpetual mime routine is based in fact or bad art? And
what’s the point at which you’ll stop caring. Because, believe me, there is one. I care only for Mike in that he wasn’t his father -who was kind of a monster- or his mother who wasn’t much of anything. Mike’s mum routine means he’s obviously hiding something; what kind of mother would let her son take the fall for him? And why isn’t she a mum mum? That would be so much more poetic. The most sympathetic character in the film seems to be Ramsey, who stands to lose exactly nothing whether or not the kid is sent to the chair.
For a wall-to-wall trial film, I cannot say The Whole Truth was anywhere near as genuine or tight as it comes; there seemed to be a new major flaw in every act. In Act I, the kid doesn’t speak, which is an interesting gambit both legally and film-wise. It’s hard to win a case or win an audience when you refuse to tell your side of the story. In Act II, Ramsey engages the “rope-a-dope” theory that the fact that he’s lost every.single.day of court is working in his favor. I’ve never regarded criminal trial law as a come-from-behind sport, but I suppose it makes sense if you understand exactly nothing about the law. At this time, the stilted legalese fell apart in favor of “we want to get some drama in this courtroom even if it makes no sense.” I started shouting “OBJECTION!” to the defense attorney’s patter several times in Act II. Dude! You gonna let them get away with this line of questioning? What kind of DA are you? And in Act III, the film falls apart. Nothing we see is well supported by anything in the movie that came before it … including the trial’s outcome.
But hey, Keanu.
A strategy Keanu must generate
To keep his client from a sad fate
But the kid won’t say a word
So Reeves’ defense is a large turd
If only he were The Devil’s Advocate
Rated R, 93 Minutes
Director: Courtney Hunt
Writer: Nicholas Kazan
Genre: Guess who’s guilty now
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Folks who can’t get enough of jury trial drama
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Genuine trial lawyers, I imagine
