The Long View

National Review, June 16, 2003 by Rob Long

The (Jayson) Blair Pitch Project: Coming to theaters near you!

"All the News"

Young hotshot reporter JayCee Flair wakes up one morning to find himself on the front page of the New York Dispatch, the most highly regarded and influential newspaper in the world. But this time, he isn't covering the story. He is the story. Accused of plagiarism, fraud, and deception, JayCee must fight to clear his name and save his once high-flying career. But as sources disappear and substantiating evidence can't be found, JayCee must confront an even more chilling possibility: Is someone at the Dispatch out to get him? Who is his shadowy nemesis? Why would someone try to destroy the career of a brilliant and scrupulous young African-American newspaper reporter? In a swirl of charges and countercharges, amidst a national debate on affirmative action, and pursued by one-time colleagues in the media, JayCee must ask the most difficult question of all: If he goes down, who benefits? Written and directed by: Oliver Stone. JayCee Flair: Ice Cube. Howell Raines: Michael Douglas. Ann Coulter: Ann Coulter.

"She Loves Me Not"

Jason Blaine (Will Smith), a young African-American journalist at a great New York paper, falls in love with the daffy, middle-aged female op-ed columnist Mary O'Doul (Susan Sarandon). At first, each rejects the other: She thinks he is a cocky young sexist and he thinks she is a "crazy old white lady." Thrown together on a corporate communications panel by their wise and zany boss (Anthony Hopkins), they discover that they have a lot in common, including love and a general lack of concern for factual accuracy. Their humorous, awkward, and ultimately life- affirming romance hits a few bumps in the road -- her Irish-American roots clash with his street-wise "posse," his smoking gets them tossed out of restaurants -- but soon they realize, as Rabbi Shmelmick (Woody Allen) says at their non-denominational wedding, "the heart wants what it wants." Written and directed by Nora Ephron.

"Who Da Man?"

The president of the Black College Republican Association, Jay Blair (Chris Rock), makes a bet with the president of the Black Student Alliance for Peace and Justice, Hakeem Williams (Taye Diggs). Just how incompetent can a young black man be before a guilty, southern white liberal has the courage to fire him? Just how low are the expectations that white liberals have for their black employees? Working his way onto the staff of a great New York newspaper, the New York Intelligencer, Jay Blair does everything wrong: He falsifies sources, plagiarizes other reporters' work, and declines to produce his notes, yet in every instance his hapless boss, Howie Rainer (Kevin Spacey), makes excuses. In a hilarious series of sidesplitting episodes of incompetent behavior, Blair tries everything he can think of to get fired -- but still his boss hems and haws, to comic effect. Ultimately, Blair wins his bet and proves his point: White-liberal guilt hurts the image of African Americans in the workplace more than racism does. But his victory is bittersweet: His clownish boss reminds him that, whatever the ill effects of affirmative action on black people, it's necessary to properly heal the scars caused by growing up white in the South during the civil-rights era. Chastened, Blair promises never to question race-based hiring again, and gets his friend Hakeem a job working for the Department of Education. Directed by: Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz.

"Shattered Trust"

A young man without scruples gets a job for which he is clearly unqualified. He charms his supervisors and deceives his friends and colleagues -- especially his older boss and mentor -- when he falsifies eyewitness reports, plagiarizes articles, and commits outright fraud. In the aftermath, a great newspaper is destroyed and lives are ruined. The movie ends in a spectacular hostage/suicide stand-off. All the President's Men meets American Psycho. Directed by Robert Redford. Jayson Blair: Leonardo DiCaprio. Howell Raines: Robert Redford. Gerald Boyd: James Earl Jones.

And on MSNBC . . .

"Front Page with Jayson Blair"

America's most controversial journalist takes a hard look at today's issues . . . from the left and the right . . . from the center and the edge . . . he tells it like it is and like it kind of maybe is and like it probably would have been had he been there. He hasn't been there, and he hasn't done that, but he is America's most controversial journalist, getting into the issues you and your family care about. He'll get right to the heart of today's most controversial issues, with a panel of young actors from Juilliard pretending to be pundits, and a roving team of reporters standing in front of a bluescreen, pretending to be out in the field. It's hot. It's edgy. It's "Front Page with Jayson Blair."