When some stories are just too true to tell
IN the movies, the truth doesn't have to get in the way of a good story, and that's why the cardinal rule of journalism - just the unvarnished facts, with reliable verification - doesn't apply to Kill the Messenger: a "based-on-a-true-story" account of an investigative reporter's dogged pursuit of the scoop of a lifetime. A few liberties are taken for dramatic effect but there's also a good dose of reality, and until it staggers near the end, this is a solid and suspenseful political thriller.
Within seconds of the opening scene - an early-1970s screen grab of US President Richard Nixon declaring a nationwide war on drugs - it's clear where director Michael Cuesta's sympathies lie. Nixon was just a bungled break-in away from impeachment but the men who succeeded him - Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan - continued to say "no" to drugs, even as a crack cocaine epidemic raged out of control in the country's inner citie…
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Lifestyle
Former Zouk morphs into mod-Asian Jiak Kim House, serving laksa pasta and mushroom bak kut teh
Massimo Bottura lends star power to pizza and pasta at Torno Subito
Victor Liong pairs Aussie and Asian food with mixed results at Artyzen’s Quenino restaurant
If Jay Chou likes Ju Xing’s zi char, you might too
Mod-Sin cooking izakaya style at Focal
What the fish? Diving for flavour at Fysh – Aussie chef Josh Niland’s Singapore debut