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Customer Reviews of Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)

Truth, Lies and Stardom
1957. Vince Collins (Colin Firth) and Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon), one of the most successful comedy teams in America (think Martin and Lewis) have just finished their annual Polio telethon in Miami, Florida. They quickly rush to New York, to appear at the opening of a gangster's new hotel. Upon entering their suite, they find a dead girl in the bathtub. On that fateful night, the team broke up and has moved their separate ways in their careers. Fifteen years later, Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman, "Matchstick Men", "White Oleander", "Big Fish") has been hired by a publisher to ghost write Vince Collin's autobiography. The celebrity is offered $1 million dollars to tell his story, which he takes, because he needs the money. As Karen starts to interview Vince, she receives portions of Lanny Morris' autobiography and realizes there is more to the truth than either man is letting on. <
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>"Where the Truth Lies", written and directed by Atom Egoyan ("Felicia's Journey", "The Sweet Hereafter") is a very well-made film, involving the viewer in the mystery, creating viable drama, portraying interesting characters, and recreating an interesting era in our history. <
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>Collins and Morris are clearly patterned after Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Martin and Lewis were at the height of their fame in the mid-50s, they appeared in many nightclubs, lived lavish lifestyles, worked on television, made films, broke up and each went their separate ways. I would find it hard to believe they broke up for the same reason as the two fictional characters in the film, but I guess it is a possibility. <
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>Collins and Morris have built an act around their friendship, adlibbing in front of inebriated men and women out to enjoy an evening of martinis and rare steak. They tell a few jokes, some at each other's expense, sing a few lines if the mood strikes and then tell a few more jokes. There show is very loose, very unstructured, very "Rat Pack". <
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>Both Firth and Bacon do a great job making these two characters `characters' with complicated ideas, feelings, history. They love each other like brothers, sticking up for each other. In one scene, Collins takes great offense when a nightclub patron slings a racial epitaph at his partner. He convinces the patron to walk away from his table, and his girlfriend. As soon as they are out of ear shot, Collins savagely beats the man, and then returns to the act, where Morris notices a spot of blood and realizes what happened. Morris surreptitiously wipes away the blood and the banter continues. <
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>As Karen begins to realize the two stories don't match, Egoyan takes us on the journey with her. When she realizes something, we flash back to that moment. Sometimes, we watch a scene unfold, to only find out later that it didn't exactly happen in that way. This is an effective way of letting us in on Karen's journey. We discover things as she discovers them, learning with her. She reads sections of Lanny's autobiography, as Bacon's voice provides the voice over, we watch them enter the hotel suite in New York. As she talks to Vince, we see another version of what happened. As she works through the two stories, we get occasional brief glimpses of what really happened. Because we watch individual scenes, skipping back and forth between the two decades, we become a part of the story. <
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>Along the way, these two characters introduce us to a host of other people, all unique and interesting. In Miami, they meet Maureen (Rachel Blanchard), a beautiful young college student working in room service. Lanny takes a shine to her and arranges for her to deliver food to them at the end of her shift. They are associated with Sally (Maury Chaykin), a gangster who wants them to appear at the opening of his new hotel. He doesn't care if they have just come off of a 72 hour telethon. Reuben (David Hayman) is the valet for the two men, but he spends most of his time cleaning up after Lanny, finding him girls, paying them off, etc. <
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>The film depicts multiple timelines, flashing back and forth between 1957 and 1972. As Karen is investigating the events in 1972, this becomes `Present Day' for the film and provides an interesting glimpse into the culture of this period. As she gets to know Vince, traveling back and forth to Los Angeles, she arrives at his home in the Hollywood Hills, dominated by a swimming pool and lots of windows. The home is decorated in high-70s chic and Vince has the sideburns and flared pants enjoyed by many swingers during that period. <
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>"Truth" is fairly frank in it's depiction of Lanny and Vince's sexual proclivities. They are stars and spend a lot of time pursuing anonymous sex with their adoring fans. As mentioned, this is the primary function of Reuben, their valet. Later, Vince seduces Karen in a very unusual, strangely erotic fashion. The reason for this act is as twisted as the rest of their values. Drugs are also a heavy influence on their lives. <
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>When Karen finally uncovers the truth, the resolution to this is touching and well-done. <
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>I have not seen every film made by Atom Egoyan, but the titles I have been exposed to have left me with a very favorable impression. In "Felicia's Journey", "The Sweet Hereafter" and now "Where the Truth Lies", he isn't afraid to create complex characters or to tell a story that may end in a sad way. His characters benefit from the multi-faceted elements of their nature. Not a single character is `Good' or `Bad', they have varying degrees of these characteristics, mixed with strange philosophies, proclivities and feelings. Real people aren't single-minded, why should the characters in a film? In my mind, this makes Egoyam's films more realistic and memorable. Because he manages to create three-dimensional characters; liked, disliked, abhorred, by the viewer, he manages to create stories which tell more, say more, about these same characters. In "Felicia's Journey", Bob Hoskins plays a truly despicable man, but below the surface, there are things about him that we understand. We may not necessarily like him, but we can believe he might exist. In "Where the Truth Lies", not a single one of the three main characters is completely likable, some to varying degrees, but this makes them seem more real. It also adds a surface to the showbiz persona of Collins and Morris making them more truthful. When the cameras are on, they are smiling, happy, buddies. When the cameras are off, the dark sides begin to emerge. <
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>"Where the Truth Lies" is a very interesting look at two fictional stars and the hell they create for themselves. As I watched, a thought always lurked in the back of my head. What if half of the things they did happened to other stars in real life? I am sure there are celebrities who have gone down this same path, and this makes the film that much more interesting. <
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Neo-Noir That's Low on Substance, Heavy on Style -Not to Mention Sex & Drugs.
"Where the Truth Lies" is a neo-noir scripted and directed by Atom Egoyan, based on the novel by Rupert Holmes. Egoyan employs classic noir narrative devices -voiceover narration, flashbacks, and unlikely coincidences- very self-consciously to create a hyper-noir style that seems sometimes to be mocking itself. The truth is that I am not sure if the film's self-satire is deliberate or an accidental consequence of intermingling unnaturally bold colors and noir conventions with some heavy doses of sex and drugs. I am tempted to call this "kitsch noir". I don't mean that in a bad way. Not entirely anyway. "Where the Truth Lies" is entertaining. But it flaunts style where there should be themes or depth of character...or something. <
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>In 1972, an ambitious young journalist, Karen O'Conner (Alison Lohman) interviews retired showman Vince Collins (Colin Firth), who was one half of a popular comedy duo in the 1950s. Karen was stricken with polio as a child. Vince and comic partner Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) worked hard for a polio charity at the time, putting in long hours on Polio Telethons. Karen feels a connection to them, and her publisher is paying big bucks for Vince's cooperation on a book. One incident in Vince and Lanny's career intrigues Karen in particular: A woman was found dead in their hotel suite in New Jersey 15 years ago. Neither man was ever suspected of a crime, but the duo broke up shortly afterwards. When Karen seeks Lanny's cooperation on her book, she finds that he is writing an unflattering tell-all of his own. <
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>"Where the Truth Lies" presents 2 storylines simultaneously: Alison's investigation into the events surrounding the woman's death and the events themselves as recounted by Lanny. There are not one, but two, voiceover narrations: Alison's and Lanny's, which give us conflicting accounts. Lanny and Vince are portrayed by 2 superb actors, and there are hints at emotional depth in these characters. Unfortunately, we are not given enough time with these men to catch more than hints. Alison's speech is breathy, child-like, and often accompanied by a melodramatic score. She seems shallow but oddly sentimental. And she looks like a flame-haired dangerous dame from the cover of a hard-boiled novel circa 1930. What am I to make of her? Making this a period film set in the 1950s and 1970s instead of updating it to the present seems strangely awry. Again, "Where the Truth Lies" is an entertaining film, although without much payoff. But it is foremost an inscrutable exercise in style. <
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>The DVD (Sony Pictures 2006): There are 8 short deleted scenes (8 min) and one longer deleted sequence (2 ½ min). "The Making of Where the Truth Lies" (5 ½ min) is behind-the-scenes footage with no narration. Subtitles are available for the film in English and French. Dubbing is available in French.