True Story
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: April 17, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
19
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottApr 17, 2015
If nothing else, True Story is the kind of movie that will spark spirited discussion among moviegoers prone to digging and searching for the truth -- whatever that might be. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'HehirApr 16, 2015
There’s enough unfulfilled possibility in True Story to make it an intriguing introduction to this story of deception and self-deception, but the balance between true-crime cable soap and the darker, richer layers of Franco’s performance never quite adds up. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonMar 30, 2015
Lead performances from Jonah Hill and James Franco are plenty impressive. But at the same time, True Story is almost too polished and clever for its own good, sacrificing complexity for a surface-y examination of the issues at play. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanJan 31, 2015
No one in the film is particularly likeable, and while the global implications about epistemology are interesting, the specifics of this particular case, at least rendered here, are quite dull. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJan 31, 2015
Goold's work never feels stagey; a smart and varied visual sense opens up even settings as basic as a jail's visiting room. But what happens in that room isn't as convincing as might be expected from these actors. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianJeff BakerApr 16, 2015
True Story, made with obvious seriousness by talented professionals, never establishes itself. Read full review
58
HitfixGregory EllwoodJan 31, 2015
While Longo's actions were horrifying and his connection to Finkel is unique, Goold somehow can't make this material as interesting as you'd expect it to be. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaApr 17, 2015
Never mind the facts. True Story, slick and shaky, doesn't know where the truth lies. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyApr 16, 2015
This mannered, muddled drama about journalistic lapses and worse, crimes, stars comic buddies Jonah Hill and James Franco (This is the End) in a decidedly unfunny story. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 16, 2015
The real problem with True Story is contained in its title. The story isn’t too good to be true, but rather too true to be good. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleApr 16, 2015
Unfortunately this "Story" never finds its footing as either a creepy morality play or a performance-driven two-hander. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 16, 2015
True Story, which leads with its chin from the title on down and which turns a startling tale of true crime and false identities into a heavy-breathing drama that, ironically, fails to convince. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 16, 2015
True Story is a case of a well-crafted film, made by a first-time feature director with an impressive theatrical pedigree, that nonetheless struggles to locate the reasons for telling its story. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedApr 15, 2015
True Story trips and stumbles so much in the telling that you don’t know what to believe, and instead of one man’s irony you end up with two men’s lies. Read full review
50
The DissolveScott TobiasApr 14, 2015
Goold, a highly regarded British theater director making his debut feature, lacks the panache to realize this twisted relationship onscreen. Instead he’s made a stolid, well-acted, intelligent drama that respects the complications of Finkel and Longo’s storytelling agendas without bringing them to life. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 16, 2015
The real story of Christian Longo and Michael Finkel might be a fascinating and disturbing tale of crime, curiosity and journalistic ethics, but that’s not what this movie is. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 16, 2015
True Story is a prisoner of its own dull storytelling. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 15, 2015
It’s made with too much slickness, and you’ll be way ahead of it. Read full review
40
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekApr 14, 2015
Especially for a movie that springs from a horrific and grisly crime, True Story feels undershaped and indistinct; it’s too dispassionate to be genuinely chilly. Read full review
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