It’s a wonder that James Franco has time to appear in other people’s movies, what with his constant barrage of side projects in film and on paper. But here he is in a based-on-truth story, which sees him acting opposite pal Jonah Hill in a tale that will see neither of them using their comedy chops. With the film headed to the Sundance Film Festival, the first trailer for True Story has arrived.
Adapted by Dave Kajganich from Michael Finkel’s memoir, the plot finds Hill playing Finkel, a New York Times writer who, in 2002, was fired by the paper after his bosses announced he had falsified part of an investigative report. With his girlfriend (Felicity Jones) upset and no work prospects, Finkel suddenly discovered a possible path to redemption.
But this is no ordinary tale of someone working their way back into everyone’s good graces: it turns out that FBI murder suspect Christian Longo (Franco) had taken the journalist’s name and, after he was captured, refused to speak to anyone else but Finkel. As he dug into the mystery, Finkel realised he could save his career by talking to Longo.
Rupert Goold directing this one, with Ethan Suplee, Gretchen Mol and Robert John Burke also among the cast. **True Story **has yet to secure a general release here or in the US, but that is likely to change once it screens at Sundance.