Where the Truth Lies (2005)

Buried Treasure

My wife and I were perusing the aisles of HMV looking for bargains. She was looking in the $3.99 bin while I was checking out the second hand offerings. My wife found "Swept Away" and because of her undying allegiance to Madonna I bit my tongue. She waved a copy of this film and I was intrigued not because of the presence of Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth but why I never heard of it. I was further intrigued by the fact that the film was directed by Atom Egoyan who made one of the great films of the nineties, "The Sweet Hereafter". The film just blew me away. Ostensibly the film is about the mysterious appearance of a dead hotel employee in the bathtub of famed fifties comics Lanny Morris(Bacon) and Vince Collins(Firth). For sure the mystery surrounding the possible murder of the girl is explored. The film also wants to delve into the nature of the relationship between Morris and Collins. Onstage Morris is Peck's Bad Boy to Collins' straight man. Offstage the relationship is a little more complex. Both Bacon and Firth are excellent but kudos should also go to Alison Lohman as a writer who is trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the girl's death but also the subsequent breakup of Morris and Collins act. Lohman's Karen O'Hara is more than a disinterested third party but also has a tenuous relationship to the duo. Saying much more about the film would give away too much. If you can find this flick in the bargain bin (or otherwise) plop down the bucks for it. July 13, 2008

Alison Lohman Rocks!

Alison Lohman's performances always captivate me. The film itself was good (not great). I would've liked to have seen more humor whenever the two comedians were in public (on stage, in a restaurant, on a street). I believe by having much more silly, always leave 'em laughing personas in public (usually accompanied with humility & incredible compassion) would've made the juxtaposition with their truer, darker, all-consuming narcissism all the more striking. And by having film protagonists full of extreme internal contradictions would've made this film completely compelling in every second, leaving the audiences forever guessing which is the real person beneath the masks, building to an bigger surprise ending. July 8, 2008

Save your money

Tepid, predictable, and boring. It's astounding that Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth could be in a movie this bad. May 26, 2008

One curiously tepid film is where this "Truth Lies"

WHERE THE TRUTH LIES seems to have all of the right ingredients for a good film whodunit thriller,like Atom Egoyan,screenwriter of THE SWEET HEREAFTER, actors Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon, and a soundtrack by Michael Danna.These are ingredients for a successful recipe.Sorry! This was simply awful.There was no tension, no suspense and despite Firth and Bacon doing their level best to pull off a "Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis" disguised biopic of sorts, actress Alison Lohman, playing reporter Karen O'Connor who takes her clothes off to get to the truth of why the comedy team of Morris and Collins broke up, is quite simply the worst piece of casting and acting I have ever seen.She is dreadful.The film is dreadful.This recipe is a loser.Do not attempt to reheat.The DVD extras are cheap and reveal nothing to aid in understanding why anyone would make this film.It has an extremely cheap look to it.Pass this one. November 15, 2007

Ambitious mess but entertaining

Atom Egoyan crams a lot into this film. There's a lot to like--some great performances, especially that of Kevin Bacon---some interesting flashbacks to the good old/bad old days of gang owned night clubs in the 50's when the law looked the other way, more often than not. The story is interesting and holds your attention. There's a lot of sex thrown in, male/female, female/female, threesomes, male/male...something for everyone.

It's smart as all of his films are. It is a who dunnit and there are all the necessary details you have to follow--the name change, the complicated negotiations with the publishers, the location of the manuscripts, etc. that I found a little confusing at times. I would have preferred more of a character study of the show biz couple. It's an interesting story and the human side of it was far more compelling than the picky details of who mailed the manuscript or moved the note stuff.

It was definitely entertaining but I had the feeling that Egoyan bit off more than he could really master. The sex scenes, for example, seemed a little gratuitous and one has to wonder why he chooses blonds for all his heroines---sort of like Hitchock's pale heroines except these show a lot more skin.

Maybe if he had decided to do a traditional Hollywood type film noir he could have stuck with the slick cold-bloodedness. But he threw in some sentimental stuff with the mother of the murdered girl fondling the tree that grew out of where her ashes were scattered, that just didn't fit with the tone of the rest of the film. There were a few moments of what seemed like genuine feeling between the Bacon and the Lohman characters but they were eclipsed by all the sensational stuff. I think Egoyan was enamored of a lot of the glamor of the subject matter, as well as the pale female bodies and sort of indulged in it. I hope he continues to make films and that he matures into a better film maker in coming years.

The biggest mistake was casting Allison Lohman as the reporter. She is lovely but looks far too much like the girl-next-door trying to get a story for the school paper than the hyper smart, super gutsy, ambitious character she's playing.

I have to wonder how they got away with portraying a comedy team so closely resembling Martin and Lewis. As another reviewer said, they must have had a lot of good lawyers on hand.

All in all, it's worth watching, if, for nothing else, the terrific acting job by Kevin Bacon. September 1, 2007

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