The Justice

Media Credit: David Sheppard-Brick Beckinsale and Alda participated in a Q & A session following a screening of their Oscar-nominated film.

It's hard to pay close attention to what Kate Beckinsale is actually saying when she speaks.

Dressed in a sleek black dress and petite patent leather pumps, her sly smile half hidden by silky, straight brown tresses, Beckinsale looks exactly like that movie star you never thought you'd see up close.

On her left sits M.A.S.H. and West Wing star Alan Alda, whose less-than-glamorous sparse, gray hair and dress suit are balanced by his impressively effortless wit.

Beckinsale and Alda spoke to an audience of nearly 250 Brandeis students, faculty and Boston-area fans in the Wasserman Cinamatheque last Wednesday after the screening of Nothing But the Truth, their Oscar-nominated film directed by Rod Lurie. Their visit marked the fourth in a series of the Los Angeles Times' East Coast "Contender Q & A" events celebrating the recent establishment of the Film Studies major at Brandeis. Alumnus Scott Feinberg, a Los Angeles Times blogger covering the Oscar race, interviewed the actors and moderated the Q&A panel.

The film is loosely based on the events surrounding former New York Times journalist Judith Miller's refusal to testify before a federal grand jury as to who leaked the information that Valerie Plame was a covert CIA agent.

Washington, D.C. reporter Rachel Armstrong (played by Beckinsale) gets caught in a complex situation when she reveals CIA agent/soccer mom Erica van Doren's (played by Vera Farmiga) secret identity in a cover story exposé. After revealing Erica's identity, Rachel is subpoenaed and imprisoned for refusing to reveal the source that leaked the information. As Rachel's personal life slowly unravels, she forms a close bond with her lawyer, Alan Burnside (played by Alda), who complicates Rachel's situation by questioning whether it's worth it for her to sacrifice so much on the basis of principle.

The chemistry between Beckinsale and Alda on screen is matched by their compatibility in person. Beckinsale's endearing English colloquialisms describing the most exciting parts of filming ("We actually invaded the Memphis newsroom-real people kept phoning up!") made Alda's sharp, often crude witticisms ("[My wife] isn't undercover-she's under the covers") all the more unexpected.

Continued...

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