I've found that message movies for the most part offer
incredibly boring films that while trying to speak from the heart inevitably
fail to entertain or hold your attention for long. Rarely does one succeed. For
the most part these movies fail miserably and disappear from memory quickly.
How many can say that they're fans of LIONS FOR LAMBS? You don't recall it? Not
a surprise.
For the most part message movies don't do much harm, though
on rare occasions overzealous film makers tend to offer simplistic discussions
promoting a topic they believe rather than an unbiased account. The majority of
these movies seem to head straight to DVD rather than receive theatrical runs.
That's not always a bad thing. Once in a while a decent movie comes out and
gets into homes this way. Such is the case with A DARK TRUTH.
Andy Garcia stars as Jack Begosian, an ex-CIA agent who now
hosts his own political talk radio program. Trying to rebuild his life and
steer clear of his past, Begosian must face his history when he is asked by one
of the owners of a water purification company to investigate the particulars of
a small village in South America. It seems that almost everyone there died of
something wrong in the water. Begosian at first refuses but when he is told
that the leader of a small group trying to get the truth out is Francisco
Francis (Forest Whittaker) he agrees. It seems that Begosian owes a debt to
Francis but we're not aware of what that is until later.
On the run from corrupt leaders and military officials
Francis and his group move through the jungle simply trying to avoid capture.
Amazingly Begosian has no problem finding them though. He approaches them and
offers them help at about the same time the military shows to take out as many
as they can. On the run Begosian learns what the actual problem is and that
Francis has the proof that will show the world what happened.
The message here becomes one of corporate greed and
manipulation. The evil corporate giant that has contracts around the world in
water purification and management has failed in the small town mentioned
before. Rather than seek out a solution to the problem they instead have tried
to erase it so they can continue to market their product around the world and
increase their wealth. Why they wouldn't seek out a solution to the problem so
they can continue to profit from a good product doesn't matter. What matters is
portraying corporations as all evil, all bad and all willing to kill to keep
information from reaching the public.
So yes, the film becomes predictable for the most part. It
still is well made and acted and offers some mild entertainment. Just don't get
sucked into the message. Are there terrible corporations in this world who will
exploit the masses for a buck? I have little doubt. But cookie cutting movies
will most likely not be the thing that leads to change. Still the movie offers
a mild distraction and decent enough production values to make it worth
watching.
Click here to order.
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