You can't make this stuff up: Liberal actor Robert Redford has signed on to play Dan Rather in a film biography entitled Truth. The movie will be an adaption of Mary Mapes's book, Truth and Duty: The Press, The President, and The Privilege of Power. Both Rather and Mapes were forced out after using fake documents in a story for CBS attacking then-President George W. Bush.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie "centers on the firestorm that erupted after Rather reported that George W. Bush had gotten to serve in the National Guard in order to avoid the Vietnam War." Although Rather may be pleased with the big screen adaption, Redford wasn't his first choice. According to the September 2, 1990 Boston Herald, he offered this head scratcher: "The best person to star in the movie of my life is: Arsenio Hall."
In the Hollywood Reporter story, author Rebecca Ford wrote:
Mapes' memoir, Truth and Duty, was published in 2005. The Peabody Award-winning producer worked for CBS' 60 Minutes starting in 1999. After Rather's report on Bush aired, it became the subject of harsh criticism, and an intern investigation was launched. Subsequently, Mapes was accused of lapses in judgment and was fired, while Rather's career and reputation were jeopardized.
If this film is treated like other Redford polemics, it will be fawned over in the press. His 2007 anti-war movie Lions for Lambs was featured for 19 minutes over three days on ABC's Good Morning America. Considering that the actor's current project honors a journalist, it will likely be hailed by reporters.
