At some future date in our history there is an assassination attempt on our president. That is used to justify a military intervention in Venezuela when it's leaked to the press that they were behind the attempt.

Kate Beckinsale investigative reporter writes the story and in doing so outs her neighbor Vera Famigia as a CIA operative. That's against the law and the government wants to know who her source is. But being the good journalist she is she won't reveal. So it's off to prison with her and that's only the beginning of her problems.

The federal government is really vindictive in its persecution of her. They've even got a special prosecutor in Matt Dillon who is just devoted to her case alone. Talk about overkill. Dillon does very well in the part and never lets it slip into caricature. He genuinely believes in what he's doing and never sees the implications that Beckinsale's civil liberties lawyer Alan Alda does.

Unfortunately outing Famigia makes her a target too and tragically so. That only makes Dillon and our government redouble its efforts to make an example of Beckinsale. As for Beckinsale she's wonderful in her part as unexpected hero who really sacrifices all for a free press.

We do in fact learn the original source of her story and all I can say is it is sublimely bizarre. I would love to have seen Matt Dillon try to prosecute the source.

After a Presidential assassination attempt, he orders an attack against Venezuela. Columnist Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) writes that the President ignored CIA operative Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) when ordering the attack. The media descends on Erica and her life is turned upside down. The government moves to force Rachel to name her secret source. She refuses and is jailed for contempt.

Of course, it's a ripped-from-the-headlines kind of story. They make sure to say that this is fictional. Writer/director Rod Lurie does a reasonable job but this has a bit too much TV movie feel. Maybe he should have not copied so much from the headlines. There are big enough actors involved but it needs big cinematic flourishes. I won't give any spoilers, but I do love the big reveal at the end.

This is a most disturbing film. It's about the government hanging people out to dry, even if they are upholding fundamental principles. The young woman is true to her calling. Unfortunately, those around her, from her employers to her lawyer to her husband to the prosecutor can't quite grasp this kind of dedication. She is put in prison for not revealing her sources. She loses just about everything in the process. Unfortunately, she also runs into a prosecutor who begins to take her case personally. He is sadistic to the nth degree and she is truly powerless to save herself. It's the Valerie Plame incident, although the disclaimers come right at the beginning. That is itself a bit of cowardice. It is then a series of efforts to get a judge to change in the face of federal pressure and post 9/11 events; in the face of Homeland Security. Quite a powerful effort.