How far are you willing to go to fight for what you believe in? How intensely do you believe? What are you willing to give up?

Kate Beckinsale is excellent in the role of Rachel Armstrong, a reporter who starts out writing a story to win a Pulitizer and bring down the President. When she is jailed for refusing to reveal her source for the story concerning the secret identity of a CIA undercover operative the intensity of the story explodes. The movie also does a great job of showing the impact on the CIA agent, Erica Van Doren, played by Vera Farmiga. Both of these women are in untenable positions that they both chose and did not choose. Each of them not only accepted the challenges of their position but fought for what they truly believed to be right. 

Matt Dillon does a good job as Patton Dubois, the Special Prosecutor charged with investigating the leak of classified information. Alan Alda adds weight to the cast with his portrayal of the defense attorney Alan Burnside. 

As we watch the movie unfold and Rachel Armstrong pays a higher and higher price for failing to reveal her source, we see not only the legal argument to protect the first amendment clash with the legal argument to protect national security, we also see the very human conflict involved with doing what you believe is right even when it costs you what you hold most dear in life.

The ending of the story, seen as a flash back, offers a hint at the special motivation Rachel had in not revealing her source. I thought this was an excellent movie and would see it again to reexamine the choices Rachel made at each turn.