Cheap Brilliant Lies (Video) (Gia Carides, Anthony LaPaglia) (Richard Franklin) Price

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Customer Reviews of Brilliant Lies

The majority of the cast is well placed, and any limitations or shortcomings by the actors are mitigated through the cumulative effort and expressive force as a whole - in particular the stunning Gia Carides - who projects an intensity and ambiguous "quality" that is quite admirable and beguiling.

Anthony LaPaglia is also attractive - odd, considering the greasy, and at times gross character he is suppose to embody.

Although I do take issue with some points of this film,(particularly with scene construction and the dynamic of the father towards his children - his oration, although he is a wonderful force) I feel that it "cliks" as a piece of true entertainment, with the added benefit of the depth and severity of male/female dynamics, class and of course sex - this film has entertainment, social comentary and a more complex, rich identity than one would initally imagine - and that cumulative pay off is your just reward for any misguided construction.

Also, the manner in which this film was shot struck me as unattractive at first, but I think in the end it added a dimension that was a true benefit to everyone concerned - particularly the viewer. The spartan and flat images are what is needed to set off the complex and at times sophisticated plot, and the individual characters as you are chartered through the course of this film.

Many of the scenes are memorable to the point of distraction, and quite a few acrimonious articulations stay with you far after the film is finished.

All in all I think this film has accomplished what every truly good film is suppose to do - make you long for more after the screen has gone blank.

A memorable film - one that I am sure you will have enthusiasm for, good or bad.

the battle of the sexes is now all out war
Director Richard Franklin's adaptation of the Australian playwright David Williamson's play may not be as dire as Franklin's previous Hotel Sorrento, but it also still can't conceal the stage origins. The title is explained by Williamson's cynical/pragmatic philosophy that to survive in the 1990's, one must either be "lucky, rich or a brilliant liar", and the plot centres on a sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal charge filed by Gia Carides against her employer Anthony LaPaglia. The flashbacks which Franklin films as if a horror movie with stylised lighting, reveals that neither version of the culminating incident which lead to Carides being fired, is believable, so we have some pleasing ambiguity. It's one's word against the other, and both having incriminating reputations, with LaPaglia a womaniser and Carides a tramp. Unable to settle in a private conciliation hearing since Carides asks for $40,000, the case goes to public trial. The screenplay has it's share of memorable lines including gayness being viewed as "a fashionable pose", "There is no God because if there was he'd be bright enough not to recruit the like of you", "Do you always spit when you say the word feminist?", a referral to "feminist mafia", "Please don't be penitent. Your remorse is more nauseating than your crimes", but also a lesbian told she can't even "spot your own species" and "This is very very counter-productive" as an observed response to "You're very very wrong". As the father of Carides, Ray Barrett's heightened comic drunk and a long speech he delivers seems like neither has been tempored for the film, as is Franklin's occasional attached sets for change of scenes. As Carides' brother, Michael Veitch also delivers a theatrical cartoon performance though his banter with Barrett is at least funny. Franklin uses Billy Wilder's The Apartment on TV for Carides to watch, and opening credit Esquire magazine cartoons and Harassment Tango by Nerida Tyson-Chew. Thematically, it's a pity the material gets sidetracked by the issue of child abuse, since this and LaPaglia's business machinations show Williamson at his weakest. The family squabbles in particular become earnest and trite, providing for an unconvincing conclusion. Thankfully, the cross-cutting between Carides' testimony at the trial, where strangely LaPaglia never gets to testify, and flashbacks to the incident are in normal lighting, presumably so we understand that this version is what really happened, and that's why we don't need LaPaglia. He is rather likeable in spite of the claim made against him, with Carides more believable as a "sex goddess", the ferocity of their animosity no doubt aided by them being a real life couple. Carides' real life sister Zoe also plays her screen sister, and we get glimpses of her Cher-like beauty (ie the pre-surgically enhanced Cher).