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Gasparilla Film Festival Opener Surrounded By Buzz

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By WALT BELCHER

wbelcher@tampatrib.com

Published: February 26, 2009

TAMPA - When a Washington, D.C, political reporter exposes a government scandal, she gets in deep trouble by revealing the name of a covert CIA agent.

The government comes down hard, demanding that she rat out her sources. She refuses and lands in jail, where she does a lot of soul searching about the principles upon which she has based her career.

That's the basic plot of "Nothing But the Truth," a political thriller with surprise twists and turns, a touch of sardonic humor and solid performances from a stellar cast.

Kate Beckinsale, shedding her "Underworld" vampire garb, stars as journalist Rachel Armstrong. Matt Dillon is the sneaky special prosecutor. Angela Bassett is her newspaper editor. And Alan Alda is her hotshot attorney.

Scheduled to be released in 2007, "Nothing" could have been a box-office hit. Written and directed by Rod Lurie ("Commander in Chief"), there was even Oscar buzz about the film and Beckinsale's performance.

But all that went up on smoke when the film's distributor filed for bankruptcy protection and "Nothing" got, well, nothing.

"It was a terrible blow because this was getting the best reviews of anything that I have ever done," says Lurie, who is screening the film at tonight's opening of the Gasparilla International Film Festival at Tampa Theatre.

"I've been taking it to film festivals because I want people to see it," says the former newspaper film critic with a knack for writing about political intrigue ("The Contender").

"I'm hoping that by word of mouth people will begin to seek it out," Lurie says. "It's not for money or for awards, because that's long gone. I just think the story about protecting freedom of speech is important."

Because "Nothing But the Truth" is about a reporter going to jail to protect a source, and the outing of a CIA agent, people have assumed it is based on New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

But Lurie says the idea came to him when he was writing "Commander in Chief," the 2005-06 ABC drama starring Geena Davis as the first female president of the United States.

In 2005, Miller was jailed for 85 days for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating a leak naming Valerie Plame as a covert CIA agent. Miller did not write about Plame, but reportedly was involved in passing information. Miller was released after her source, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, gave her a release of confidentiality.

Lurie says his idea for "Commander in Chief" was to have a reporter threatened with prison for not revealing sources in a book about the president that contained classified information. Davis' character would pardon him because she believed in freedom of the press.

That story wasn't told because ABC executives replaced Lurie as producer.

It's sad that "Nothing But the Truth" didn't become a box-office hit. Newspaper reporters haven't been big film heroes since "All the President's Men." And with newspapers going through layoffs and even shutting down, we could have used the morale boost.

Tonight's opening event is sold out, but tickets are available for nearly 100 films in the festival that runs through March 7 (most at Channelside Cinemas). For more information visit gasparillafilmfestival.com or TBO.com keyword: Gasparilla.

WFTS CHANGE: Meteorologist Linda Gialanella has left WFTS, Channel 28. Her contract, which ended last Friday, was not renewed, according to WFTS general manager Rich Pegram.

Gialanella had been the weekend weather forecaster for "ABC Action News" on WFTS from 2003 to 2008 until meteorologist Wayne Shattuck moved from weekday mornings to weekends. For the past year, she has been a backup meteorologist and occasional general assignment reporter.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

"Eleventh Hour," 10 p.m., CBS

When 30 people are killed by lightning, Dr. Hood (Rufus Sewell) investigates.

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