“Journalists-as-heroes” seems to be a genre of filmmaking all its own. Perhaps the crown jewel of this genre is the Academy Award-winning “All The President’s Men.” However, in recent years, the genre is coming back strong (perhaps due to our toxic political climate) with films like “The Post” and “Spotlight,” which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2016. This summer, we have another new entry to the genre, Rob Reiner’s “Shock and Awe.”
As seen in the first trailer, and if the name didn’t make it obvious enough, the film follows a duo of intrepid journalists (played by James Marsden and Woody Harrelson) in the days leading up to the most recent Iraq War. The journalists are investigating a conspiracy theory that President George W. Bush’s White House had already decided to invade Iraq, but were fishing for excuses to make it happen. Of course, we know how this story ends.
The film is directed by Rob Reiner, best known for films like “This is Spinal Tap,” “Misery,” and “When Harry Met Sally,” among many, many more. He’s no stranger to the political film, having just released “LBJ,” also starring Harrelson, in 2016.
“Shock and Awe” stars Harrelson and Marsden, as well as, Milla Jovovich, Jessica Biel, Tommy Lee Jones, and Reiner.
“Shock and Awe” has its debut on DirecTV on June 14, before releasing in theaters on July 13.
Here’s the official synopsis:
The film is based on the true events of Knight Ridder journalists who were the only ones who “got it right” in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq War when they questioned the true nature of the Bush White House’s justification for the conflict.