The Four-Faced Liar

I just saw the movie at the Slamdance Film Festival and was extremely surprised by its quality.

The story is very smart, the actors very truthful, and the production extremely professional.

Congratulation to all the team who did a terrific job, especially the Director of Photography and the Director who turned a very sweat and smart script to a very visual and cinematic piece.

More than anything, I thought that the music bring it to a even greater level.

This looks like a $10 million dollar movie !

For starters, as a lesbian themed movie, this one is excellent (not exactly hard to do considering the competition, but worth pointing out). As a movie in general, I think this is a nice character study. This movie has some great depth, and I've thought/discovered something new each time I've seen it. All of the leads do a great job. The actor who plays Greg is probably the weakest, but overall he is okay in his role.

The basic plot line is about a group of 4 people; Molly, Bridget, Trip, and Greg. Molly and Greg are a couple who have just moved to NYC together. They stumble across a bar The Four-Faced Liar one evening and meet Trip and Bridget. They become friends with them, and from there the film is basically a romantic drama. The main romantic tension is between Bridget and Molly. Bridget is an out lesbian who is basically a player. She and Molly develop a friendship, and from there something more grows. I think the film did a good job of building up this relationship. Molly did not seem immediately attracted to Bridget, but as their friendship grew her feelings did. Trip is also a great character. He is roommates and best friends with Bridget. He has a subplot with his girlfriend Chloe and develops a friendship with Greg.

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a lesbian themed film that is actually good. It is also just a good character study. It isn't perfect, but I think for what it was working with it's pretty good. I also think the music is a plus.

The Four-Faced Liar (2010) was directed by Jacob Chase. Marja Lewis Ryan, the film's writer, is also the star. She plays Bridget, a lesbian who is quirky, foul-mouthed, and very successful at one-night conquests. Todd Kubrak is Trip, Bridget's roommate and best friend. Daniel Carlisle (Greg) has just joined his fiancée Molly (Emily Peck) in the West Village. One of them sees their neighborhood as colorful and charming, while the other sees is as unpleasant and threatening.

Everyone hangs out in a bar called The Four-Faced Liar, and the four of them, along with Trip's fiancée, have a more or less "Friends" type existence, with alcohol substituted for caffeine.

This was an interesting film, with good acting and a solid sense of New York City. It didn't really work for me because the key to the plot is Bridget, and I couldn't believe that this irritating chain-smoker would be perceived as every lesbian's dream lover. If you can't accept Bridget as what she's supposed to be, the rest of the film loses steam.

Still, the movie had its moments, and the next viewer might find it as charming as it's meant to be. We saw the film at the Little Theatre as part of the excellent ImageOut Rochester Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. It should work well on DVD.

Politically correct crap that should have at least PG tag, instead it's on home TV in the middle of the day... And it's not a romantic comedy at all, more like tragedy/drama.

My summary for this review pretty much takes the cake as far as reviews go. There's not much more to say because this film is not an epic tale like...well, has there ever been a romantic- comedy with a lesbian twist that has been epic? Maybe there's one out there that holds true and strong to you personally, however the whole coming of age, finding yourself, with lesbianism on top- genre is not in grip of the main commercial audience.

This is a humble, down to earth film with a low budget that successfully tells a story with an ending that is both endearing and realistic. The movie keeps you engaged and moves you through it until the end. It is well written, well cast and well directed which is amazing. For those of you who appreciate film, you should watch this.