50
Metascore
40 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The PlaylistKatie WalshThe PlaylistKatie WalshThe film is exceptionally well-made... There is nothing warm about the style, yet it allows for moments of simmering tension, broken by a few emotional explosions that shatter its well-composed surface.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThe reporter/convict dynamic doesn’t have enough layers to carry the film without some hint of mystery. The relationship between the two, chilling as it is, never raises this “Story” from generic to profound.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeWhile never as gripping as a good piece of fiction, Goold’s treatment actually manages to improve on the book, even if that meant fabricating a few things along the way.
- 63Slant MagazineChris CabinSlant MagazineChris CabinIf the film's copycat visual artistry illuminates nothing, at least its script is sincerely devoted to probing Finkel and Longo's odd partnership.
- 60The GuardianJordan HoffmanThe GuardianJordan HoffmanNo 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.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeGoold'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.
- 60Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonLead 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.
- 50The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasGoold, 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.
- 40Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekVillage VoiceStephanie ZacharekEspecially 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.