Where the Truth Lies

Infobox_Film
name =Where the Truth Lies


caption="Where the Truth Lies" film poster
director =Atom Egoyan
writer =Atom Egoyan (screenplay)
Rupert Holmes (novel)
starring =Kevin Bacon
Colin Firth
Alison Lohman
producer =Robert Lantos
distributor =Concorde Filmverleih GmbH
Roadshow Entertainment
ThinkFilm Inc.
released =May 13, 2005 (Cannes Film Festival)
runtime =108 min. (Canada)
language =English
budget =US$25,000,000 (estimated)
imdb_id =0373450

"Where the Truth Lies" is a 2005 dramatic film directed by Atom Egoyan, based on the novel by Rupert Holmes. It stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman, David Hayman, and Maury Chaykin.

Plot

In 1957, a girl is found dead in the hotel room of a Martin & Lewis-like comedy team. Both had alibis and neither was accused, although the death breaks up the act. Years later, a young journalist (Lohman) tries to find out the truth behind the breakup. She becomes sexually involved under false pretenses with one of the comedians, Lanny Morris (Bacon), while pursuing an interview with the other, Vince Collins (Firth), who manipulates her with sex and drugs in order to keep her from reporting what she knows, and from finding out more. When she finally puts all the pieces together, however, she finds out more than she was expecting.

Response

The film did not reach broad audiences, owing mostly to the NC-17 rating, widely considered a commercial "kiss of death" for a movie. Critical responses were similarly harsh; among other critics, "BBCi" panned it for "strained storytelling", [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/11/21/where_the_truth_lies_2005_review.shtml BBC - Movies - review - Where The Truth Lies ] ] while "Rolling Stone" called it a "monumental misfire" and compared it with the infamous flop "Showgirls". [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/_/id/7567564/rid/8088401/ Where the Truth Lies : Review : Rolling Stone ] ] Lohman's performance was also severely panned with adjectives such as "miscast" [http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/w/where_truth.html] and "just bad". [ [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3A308556 The Austin Chronicle: Film Listings ] ]

The film generated some controversy for its NC-17 rating in the United States because of a scene involving a threesome. Egoyan condemned the MPAA decision as "a violent act of censorship," while Bacon stated, "I don't get it, when I see films (that) are extremely violent, extremely objectable sometimes in terms of the roles that women play, slide by with an R, no problem, because the people happen to have more clothes on." [ [http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2005/09/14/1216527.html CANOE - JAM! Movies: Kevin Bacon irked over movie rating ] ] Both suggested that homophobia may have played a role in the decision, as the film deals in part with homosexuality. Finally, the studio surrendered the film's NC-17 tag and released it unrated in the United States theatrically.

An edited R-rated version was also made available on DVD.

Its rating was a minor subject of analysis in the documentary "This Film Is Not Yet Rated".

Cast

*Kevin Bacon .... Lanny Morris
*Colin Firth .... Vince Collins
*Alison Lohman .... Karen O'Connor
*David Hayman .... Reuben
*Rachel Blanchard .... Maureen O'Flaherty
*Maury Chaykin .... Sally Sanmarco
*Sonja Bennett .... Bonnie Trout
*Kristin Adams .... Alice

References

External links

* [http://wherethetruthliesfilm.com/main.html Official site]
*imdb title|id=0373450|title=Where the Truth Lies
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/where_the_truth_lies Where the Truth Lies] at Rotten Tomatoes
* [http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=1862 Slant Magazine film review]