'Rather' review: Solid overview of veteran journalist Dan Rather, but not enough insight

WHAT IT'S ABOUT This portrait by veteran Hollywood producer Frank Marshall covers the life and career of former “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather, now 92, through archival footage, with much of late 20th century history seen from the perspective of its most famous TV newsman. Also covered: Rather's exit from “Evening News” in 2005 after that story based on a memo — later established to be counterfeit — about then-President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.

MY SAY On or about March 24, 2003, two Newsday journalists, Matt McAllester and Moises Saman disappeared in Iraq. In the midst of a hot war, the paper feared for the worst. And then, someone came to the rescue.

Rather never spoke publicly about his efforts to secure their release from an Iraqi jail weeks later. Maybe he was too busy covering the war himself to recall, but Newsday's former editor, Tony Marro, does remember. Rather was in near-daily contact with Iraqi foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, about the reporters. How instrumental he was in the release (the Vatican and Palestinian Authority were involved too) is unknown but he certainly helped, Marro told me recently.

You won't hear this story in Marshall's portrait, but it's still worth filing away — testament to the character and enterprise so uniquely Rather's own. During his near-quarter-century at “Evening News,” Rather had his share of detractors and scoffers — A phony! Too hokey! All those silly “Ratherisms!” — but no one ever doubted his heart or his courage (“courage:'' That most memorable Ratherism of them all, right?) He also cared deeply about journalism and reporters, perhaps because he saw himself as a reporter too. Those aren't fashionable things to care about these days, and they certainly weren't then. Yet Rather stood up for them. .

Does this make him a “hero” — the plaudit that Marshall reaches for here? As Rather himself might say, journalists aren't supposed to be heroes. They're supposed to do their job, which he certainly did, relentlessly, memorably, at times courageously, over a 45-year run. Just not quite flawlessly.

Rather opens his life story in voice-over, with rain streaming down a car window. He's the lion in winter, or at least on a fall day, reflecting on the one that got away and sank a career: “Sometimes you investigate, you get at the end of the alley and what you thought was there was not there.” That “alley” goes nameless here, but Memogate seems about right. Back in 2005, he apologized for its mistakes — never the story itself — and remains unbowed here too: “The story was true and because it was true, those who wanted to discredit it had to attack the process by which we got at the truth.” (Former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky insists otherwise: “That story should have never gotten on the air” in the first place.)

This portrait is really for a generation of young fans who know Rather from Facebook or X, where he trash talks conservative targets in less than 128 characters. The generation that knows him best — ours — won't find much of anything new. The complications of being Dan Rather may simply be too much, or too many, for a 94-minute film. Who really was this son of Texas who took on presidents? This mannered, clench-jawed successor to Walter Cronkite who rarely seemed comfortable in his own skin? This self-avowed reporter who chafed in the anchor chair but hung on to it for dear life?

Who was the real Rather? He helped a pair of reporters in need, seeking no attention or ego gratification in the bargain. Best to remember that  Rather. Maybe a hero after all?

BOTTOM LINE Solid overview, little real insight.