Verdade Nua

I was engrossed by the premise. Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth and a dead girl in a bathtub. To see Firth and Bacon go through the steps of a sort of Jerry Lewis Dean Martin routine was, in itself, reason enough to see the movie. On top of that, a director like Egoyan. I was hooked but immediately, regrettably unhooked every time Alison Lohman opened her mouth. Who could possibly believe it? That character should exude intelligence other than sensual vibes. Miss Lohman doesn't exude either and makes the whole premise collapse. Imagine a young Jodie Foster or now Natalie Portman or even Rachel McAdams in those shoes. That was a pivotal part The whole believability of the premise depended on her. Because of her performance I saw the cracks in everyone else's performance. So the experience, for me, was a series of exhilarating rushes and disappointing stops. Who said that casting was 90% responsible for the success of a film?. Whoever said it was right. Here the truth lies at the feet of a casting director and of a director for casting.

Egoyan's weakest film, at least since he came to prominence with Exotica. It's actually a somewhat interesting mystery, but it has a lot of flaws. There is a death, possibly a murder, in the hotel suite of two famous comedians (played by Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon), based on Martin and Lewis. That's the film's biggest flaw, that this completely fictional mystery uses Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as a model. It's very distracting. The bulk of the story has a young journalist (Alison Lohman) writing the story of the two comedians, trying to solve the mystery. The film-making is pretty good, but Egoyan, except for The Sweet Hereafter, has always been a weak director when it comes to actors. Lohman, who was great in Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men, is awful here (she does get naked and have sex with a woman, though, which makes the film almost worth seeing). Kevin Bacon, who gave his best performance ever last year in the still underseen The Woodsman, isn't especially good, either. Only Firth does a good job. The film is also overscored with some very cliché mystery music. Mychael Danna's scores for Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter were brilliant; this one's a flop.

Warning: vague, minor spoilers. Not really, but hey better safe than sorry.

Here is a movie so delightful, messy, strange, sexy, and all together not quite there; that it makes me glad that films like it are still being made.

Egoyan soaks the film with a shining visual flare, and the characters leap off screen demanding to be fantastic. With such flamboyant settings, people, and actions, casting is absolutely critical. This is where Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth are invaluable and perfect. They are so famous, so flamboyant on their own and so well known that we are drawn into this story right along with Karen. And let's face it, they are all sexuality, with evil and lies boiling just beneath the surface. This is that rare kind of film that does justice to a phrase like that which is usually written on the cover but not delivered in the movie.These men carry their own persona into the film, and deliver just the right amount of insanity and insecurity. Watch Bacon's Lanny yell at a waiter for bringing lobster to the Jewish Lanny. Watch Firth's Vince stumble away from Lanny and Maureen reeling with rejection and sexual confusion. Watch Lanny lean over and kiss Vince's cheek while they perform high. The movie could have been all style and intrigue and little substance; but since Egoyan is directing, the sexual scenes are handled deeply, the drugs are films in full glory, and poignancy creeps in through cracks of the story.

Alison Lohman, who was SO good in the vastly underrated "Matchstick Men" has a good part here as a young journalist still somewhat infatuated with Lanny and Vince's famous duo. For me, her performance is the only one that never really takes off and leaves the screen, but I still went along with her character Karen, and it is not a serious or terribly noticeable flaw, simply a slight mismatching of actress to character; all though perhaps I find Karen a bit weaker and smarter than the other characters and no actress could have changed that.

Some quotes are a bit "bookish" and take us out of the movie for a moment, but even them I found working excellently. Bacon's voice-over in particular drips with confident malevolence. He has a speech on what he sees in Maureen's eyes in a key moment, that at first seems ridiculous and distant, but had me coming back and appreciating it more and more.

Overall, if you like the looks of the film/story/trailer/or even cover, it certainly delivers, and you will love it. The combination of drugs, mystery, lies, murder, fame, bisexuality, more drugs, more sex, and above all, Egoyan's flashy but confident directing, is stunning.

Not perfect, but a wild ride about manipulation, consequences, fame, and sex.

Egoyan immediately sets the noir tone of 'Where The Truth Lies' by revealing so much yet cleverly not telling anything. The film gets straight to the point right from the start as we are introduced to a Jerry Lewis Dean Martin type entertainment duo, a haunting image of a corpse in a bathtub and a determined young lady wanting to write about her idols. The slick editing allows the film to maintain its steady track. Egoyan finely contrasts the 50s and 70s. The wonderful mise en scene, flashy lighting and score bring out a 50's feel. While the score brings out a lot of mysteriousness of the 70s (the sex and drugs phase). The camera-work deserves mention. Most of the scenes of the 50's scenes were effectively done with long shots, while a lot of the 70's scenes were shot with quick snaps.

Then there's the unusual cast that includes Kevin Bacon, Alison Lohman and Colin Firth. Bacon gives an energetic performance as the younger Lanny Morris of the 50s and he brings a 'lost' maturity as the 70's Morris. While a majority have stated Lohman as being miscast, I found her to have the right combination of naivety, sex appeal and vulnerability as Karen. The actress certainly holds her own in the presence of the more accomplished actors and bravely carries the film. Firth is remarkable and he completely sheds his Darcy image and gives a more restrained (and sometimes explosive, where required) performance as Vince Collins. Rachel Blanchard demonstrates the right kind of deceitful innocence and enigma.

Some have stated the sex scenes to be of a 'cold' nature. However, I didn't see it that way. Sexuality is an integral part of the film and it is hinted that each character sees it differently. Bacon's Morris pays a lot of attention to his sexual partner's eyes and after-sex behaviour. I can't reveal much about the other characters without spilling out spoilers but their views differ. There's the frighteningly erotic love scene between Alice and Karen followed by a distraught look on Lohman's face. The last sex-scene was particularly disturbing as this is the scene that brings out their alternative side.

However, the revelation in the end was a bit of a letdown. Not because of the twist which is clever enough but the motivation behind it would have worked better had more background information been provided. Where The Truth Lies' mainly works because of Egoyan's unique presentation and storytelling, the visual flair, the performances, the score and the stunning combination of all the themes ie, sex, drugs, sexuality, murder, fame (sounds a bit clichéd but it is shown differently).

Good film, glad to have seen it. Wish there were more adult films as I'm tired of sifting through what appeals to 14 year old males. I wasn't shocked by the sex scenes and can think of a few R-rated films that contained scenes which made me more uncomfortable. There is a lot of sex in the film, it's not framed in shoulders-up shots, but it's not wall-to-wall. There is a good story that goes along with it. I wouldn't call it erotic, this is a story about sex as a way to manipulate people and sex because you can. It is graphically honest. I didn't feel it overwhelmed the plot or took you out of the story. If you're looking for a souped up version of Body Heat though, you'll probably be disappointed.

So I start with a 10 for interesting story and great performances from Firth and Bacon. Bacon clearly has the showier role, and the script mostly revolves around Lanny and how people relate to him. He commits himself to it totally and gives you a revealing performance of this "out there" character, warts and all. You see Lanny for what he is, both the public and private persona. It is a pitch perfect performance. Colin Firth handles the more complex character of Vince with his usual ability to reveal everything and nothing at the same time. His character is more veiled and enigmatic, not so clearly scripted (which works in the movie) and leaves you with questions as much as answers by the film's end. He delivers it with truthfulness and without gimmickry or sleight of hand. One of the thing's I've always liked about him as an actor is once you've seen a movie and know the ending, you can re-watch it and see an even more layered performance than you first realized because his character was fully there from scene one. The mystery, though not what I'd call suspenseful, did serve as a useful and involving vehicle in an interesting character drama. Then I start to subtract.

The film started off a little slow and it took me a while to establish an interest in what really happened to the dead girl, beyond what I'd picked up from the trailer. And Alison Lohman was just bad, I couldn't buy into her character at all. She was supposed to be the engine that drives to the solution of the murder and why these guys broke up, pushing them to reveal secrets they've held onto for 15 years. Not only did she need to be tougher and much smarter and more driven, her acting was way off the mark. Her lines in a scene might read "I'm a tough cookie" but there was nothing in her performance that supported it, before, after or during the scene. She was supposed to be someone who you'd pay a million dollars to for a hard-hitting expose because you believed she could get at the truth. Instead she comes across as the girl from Kansas who just fell off the turnip truck looking for a big break. She's out of her depth, exacerbated by being blown off the screen by her co-stars. I never believed she could stand up to Vince the way she has to in order to make the plot evolve, or hold Lanny's interest as a sexual liaison or an adversary. She added nothing and I think reduced the impact of the mystery's resolution.(Though I agree with an earlier review that Rachel Blanchard was a surprise as the girl killed in the hotel room. She was good.)

My last nit..the music was often wrong. I'm not usually so aware of the music in a film, but in this one it was distracting at times, way over the top.

So this is a film that "coulda been a contender" along the lines of LA Confidential. Close but no cigar. If this were meant to be a break out film of sorts for Egoyan, I don't think he completely managed it. I do think it is worth the price of admission though, and is better than most of the films I've seen this year. I don't mean to undersell the film and its strengths make up for the weaknesses. So if character dramas are your thing, see it for an interesting dynamic and two stand-out performances in an involving plot. See it with friends who love thought provoking movies, probably not right as first date fare.