The Lie (2011)

74% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
54% of users liked it
(436 ratings)

When they first met, Lonnie and Clover were young idealists, but an unplanned baby forced them to flip the script. Lonnie put his music on hold and got a shitty job. And now Clover is abandoning her activism for an "opportunity" in the corporate world. Drowning in disappointments, Lonnie decides he… More When they first met, Lonnie and Clover were young idealists, but an unplanned baby forced them to flip the script. Lonnie put his music on hold and got a shitty job. And now Clover is abandoning her activism for an "opportunity" in the corporate world. Drowning in disappointments, Lonnie decides he needs some time off work to reexamine his life. He calls in sick, but his abusive boss demands he show up or get fired. Lonnie panics and tells a shocking lie to justify his absence - and once the lie if out, there's no going back. Now it's only a matter of time before the grenade he's thrown on his life explodes and Lonnie is suddenly pushed to figure out who he is, what he wants, and just maybe, what it means to be a father. -- (C) Screen Media

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 20 min.
Directed By: Joshua Leonard
Written By: Joshua Leonard, Jeff Feuerzeig, Jess Weixler, Mark Webber
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Nov 18, 2011 Limited
On DVD: Mar 5, 2012
Studio: Screen Media Ventures

Critic Reviews

Lou Lumenick, New York Post
The acting in The Lie -- including a nice bit by Mark Webber as a stoner pal who lectures Leonard on responsibility -- is good enough to almost overlook a so-so ending.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Comprising small, near-perfect scenes played out largely at dinner tables and on couches, "The Lie" wonders if it's possible to rewrite lives and remake choices.
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
It doesn't try too hard, but what "The Lie" is working at, in its unassuming, amusing way, is a mini-portrait of growing pains in a time of extended adolescence.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Here's a film in which the actors create plausible people we would probably like. They're loose inside the skins of their characters.
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice
It would take considerable skill on both sides of the camera to make this material go, and Leonard, a low-rent Owen Wilson on screen, can't handle the simplest two-shot behind the lens...
Dennis Harvey, Variety
[A] thinly amusing tale with not-especially-appealing characters.
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
Leonard plays Lonnie with unflattering commitment: you've gotta credit a fellow who plays feckless, selfish and dim so fully.
Brent Simon, Shockya.com
A well acted and uncommonly assured and engaging portrait of post-millennial and particularly male uncertainty.
Michelle Orange, Movieline
Embedded in The Lie is a sharp look at the moral limbo of a complacent life, the self-defeat of committing by halves, the self-interest of false equivalencies - but only the shallowest attempts are made to chip its themes out.
Scott Tobias, AV Club
The Lie's payoff strikes an unexpected, refreshingly open note that makes this slight little indie more resonant than its scale suggests.
Matt Singer, IFC.com
Leonard does a nice job of ramping up the comedy without sacrificing the believability of the world he's established; the movie is very funny at times but it's never outlandish.
Ray Greene, Boxoffice Magazine
The Lie is a sturdy directorial debut from actor Joshua Leonard.
David Fear, Time Out New York
The movie meanders like its dissatisfied, part-time pothead protagonist, not wisely but too well.
Kim Voynar, Movie City News
This is an assured directorial debut that goes beyond what we often see out of indie filmmakers.
Don R. Lewis, Film Threat
It's funny, touching and truthful and its total lack of cynicism is rare but very welcome.
Erik Davis, Cinematical
An under-the-radar gem that may hit you in ways you never expected long after the credits roll.
Andrew Schenker, Slant Magazine
A film about accountability that repeatedly absolves its lead character of the need to have any.