Really Surprised!

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The film deals with the age old conflict of control of natural resources. In this case an international company called Clear-Bec runs water filtration systems. It makes deals with governments to take over the waterways used by the poor indigenous population, then turn around and sell them what has been free. Old progressives are familiar with this type of thing from Susan George's "How the Other Half Dies" (1976).In this particular case, the water in an Ecuadorian village becomes polluted with sewage and leads to a typhus epidemic which wipes out a village. Part of the damage control was to have the military ensure there were no witnesses. The incident is brought to the attention of Morgan Swinton (Deborah Kara Unger) part owner of the evil corporation. She has a conscience and wants to get to the bottom of the incident against the wishes of her brother and the rest of the company.She hires radio talk show host and former CIA agent Jack Begosian (Andy Garcia) who used to work on the other side of these types of issues. For him it is a chance for redemption and to bury those demons. His goal is to bring back the only witness, an activist who has the secret files of what happened, Francisco Francis (Forest Whitaker).The film is about a fictional corporation doing things that are not beyond the realm of reason, until they bring the fight home, then I had to scratch my head. Personally I would have liked to seen a dramatization of a certain soft drink company who we all know and love and their involvement with the assassination of union leaders in Columbia.Andy Garcia and Forest Whitaker are typically animated characters in stories. In this movie they are rather subdued and defined more by their philosophical ramblings than actions. The plot was fairly simple without any real twist. The final shoot out I found grossly unbelievable. I never got to experience the pain of the affected people, nor did I develop any type connection with the main character whose past, which was fundamental to understanding him, was not fully explained. Not as good as Sean Connery in the Amazon Rain Forest.Parental Guide: No F-bombs, sex, or nudity. Killing, some blood not overly graphic.

I watched the trailer for this and thought 'Hey, that looks like a reasonable film.' It's about an ex CIA agent who's hired to look into an illegal massacre in a South American country, which may or may not have been carried out on the orders of a large conglomerate. It has Andy Garcia and Forest Whitaker in it (both well capable of putting in good performances), so it seemed to have a lot going for it.However, it was one of the most run-of-the-mill films I've ever watched. Not only did the trailer address every plot point along the way, but there was nothing vaguely different enough about it to make it stand out.It has a message - one that smacks you in the face as if it was Avatar promoting 'save the trees' - only this time it's about how big businesses rampage all over the world, not caring who they trample on along the way.A Dark Truth isn't a bad film in any way, it just has absolutely nothing out of the ordinary to mention. It's just over an hour and a half long. If you decide to invest that much time in it, you probably won't think you've totally wasted your time. Alternatively, you could always look up the trailer online and watch the same film in a fraction of the time.

I really enjoyed this movie. It moved along at a good pace. There was meaningful dialogue and the action scenes didn't leave me feeling exhausted. The acting was good, but the story itself made it difficult to make a connection to the characters. Garcia had issues with his past, but I found it hard to relate to his inner struggle. Whittaker was a hero but he wasn't believable as one. I like movies that open our eyes to little-known but vital issues. I especially like it when they show every-day people who are nameless and faceless heroes making brave choices and standing up to to make a difference. I really liked the movie for that reason the most and it was why I was willing to overlook its flaws to give it such a good rating.

Review: I did have high expectations about this movie, but once again, I got let down. As usual, the problem wasn't with the cast, who all put in good performances, but the storyline was boring in parts and it just seemed to drag. The concept was interesting but the film seemed a bit all over the place. I think that the director was trying to cover to much ground with the politics, thriller, drama and action. Disappointing!Round-Up: It's good to see Andy Garcia back on the big screen because he has been missing for ages. It's a shame that he didn't come back with a better movie, but the film must have seemed good on paper. Forest Whitaker is playing his usual moody self, which is becoming a bit repetitive, but its what he does best. Man, how much has Steven Bauer changed from playing Manny in Scarface? Anyway, the movie could have been much better with such a deep subject matter.