Where the Truth Lies (2005)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Veronique K

  
  atom egoyan is one of the best neo-noir directors, along with david lynch, brian de palma, paul verhoren and quentin tarantino since the 90s. i hate to say this but chloe is the first movie of his i saw, then this one. i've been continuously amazed at his stylish perspective to… More
  atom egoyan is one of the best neo-noir directors, along with david lynch, brian de palma, paul verhoren and quentin tarantino since the 90s. i hate to say this but chloe is the first movie of his i saw, then this one. i've been continuously amazed at his stylish perspective to render man's obsession about the womankind in general. there're several formuli on noir: set in the seedy scenes of metropolitans like los angeles, hollywood or new york, and a detective or journalist with urgent pursuit of truth (in other words, an anguish desire to decode the myth behind the veil, such as solving a murder), and the the most ravishing of all: the voyeuristic projection of dramatized sex and twisted love (or another term would be romance without love)...there's also a term called metaphysical detective novel, which was initiated by borges, umberto eco way back in the 80s. in order to create a feeling of de-familiarization, the writers have to complicate the story into a labyrinthine myth, which deludes, misguides then leads you into the astray path while distracted by vast amount of gore and intensified sex. but the ending always results in a dystopic dissolution of its motif. its purpose is demystification through extreme mystisfactions. the plots of "where the truth lies" is literally process of seeking the real cause of death of an unknown young woman who dies in the royal suite of two hollywood superstars in 1950s. egoyan explores a lot upon the mentality of sex, for example, in one scene, kevin bacon's character narrates that he prefers the missionary position just to detect what his sex-mate is really thinking during it, but the woman stares fiercely back at him as if his soul becomes suddenly transparent. it has one of those explicitly titilating discussion on sex by creating great many interesting ways to fetishize and deitify woman in a not so depthless manner. no matter how creative their perspectives (or POV, more professionally speaking) could be, it's still phallocentric, and noir is an inevitably phallocentric genre. but in a phallocentric genre as this, directors like egoyan or lynch always invent the most imaginatively provocative form of homoerotic love scenes (lesbiano-erotic, correctly speaking) to render man's endless fascination and obsessive curisiosity for female sexuality. remember david lynch's muholland drive? the scene naomi watts kisses laura harring....if you saw this, you would get a clue about what i just said. as for this one, it's alice in the wonderland with a naughty twist. the pornographical version of alice in wonderland, mingled with strong insinuation of cunnilingus(am i explict enough here), accelerated through hallucinationary acid. and this is created by A MAN, who is better than any female directors at composing a female homoerotic scene!!! i have to say, whether it's chloe or where the truth lies, either one of these two egoyan's movies (with a lesbian twist) is far sexier and more entincing than "if the wall could walk 1 or 2" or even "high art" or "the kids are all right"...because the women are objectively evolved into the niche of misty mirage, and the man, the viewer would spend great efforts to grasp a piece of her ike groping an object blind-foldedly within a milky fog! and you cannot say it's deragatory, somehow it's quite compimentary to woman despite its relentless fetishization, with a sense of masochistic romanticism contradicted with a misogynistic resistance. btw, chloe is really great, and seriously under-rated. (if you wanna avoid this one for some silly misjudgement you hear from others, you would be missing one of the sexiest and most arousing love scenes..the loss is yours, not miine. hehe)

• Carlos M

  
  Although this noir film is developed in a correct pace and sometimes even seems carefully elaborated, the story is not really compelling nor very interesting. You will probably not remember it after seeing it.

• Lewis C

  
  "Having to be a nice guy is the toughest job in the world when you're not." Where the Truth Lies is pretty decent mystery/thriller that I probably would have never seen if it didn't have Alison Lohman in it. I'm glad I did, though, because I liked it quite a… More
  "Having to be a nice guy is the toughest job in the world when you're not." Where the Truth Lies is pretty decent mystery/thriller that I probably would have never seen if it didn't have Alison Lohman in it. I'm glad I did, though, because I liked it quite a bit. More than I expected to. The story is about a young journalist in the 1970's (Lohman) who is charged with writing a book about a two-man song & dance showbiz act that she idolized as a kid. There's a mystery about a girl who mysteriously died in their hotel room in the 50's, and as she learns more about the two men (played by Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth) and the incident of the woman's death, she finds out secrets that may be best left uncovered. I thought the plot was pretty good, though it perhaps had one more twist than was wanted or necessary. All of the main actors did a fine job, and worked well together. I have to mention that this movie is rated NC-17 (at least, the version I watched), and there's plenty of sex and nudity. Not to the extent of what you can find on Cinemax on any given night or anything like that, but how much you enjoy seeing Alison Lohman naked (or Kevin Bacon's butt, for the ladies) will probably influence your opinion of the movie. Let's just say that I had no complaints. If you're looking for a way to spend a few hours in front of the couch, you could do a lot worse than Where the Truth Lies. For an under-the-radar movie, I thought it was solid and entertaining.

• Jani H

  
  A pretty interesting but predictable film of a journalist who tries to find the truth of a murder that had two star entertainers involved in. Bacon good as always but the rest of the cast did nothing but an average performance.

• Dean M

  
  Interesting sexy mystery-murder tale about two legendary partnerships break their act forever after they found a maid's body in their hotel suite. This film gives Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth the finest acting roles of their lives. And Alison Lohman does a wonderful performance as… More
  Interesting sexy mystery-murder tale about two legendary partnerships break their act forever after they found a maid's body in their hotel suite. This film gives Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth the finest acting roles of their lives. And Alison Lohman does a wonderful performance as the publisher who figured out the truth between the comedy duo.

• Steve B

  
  Pretty much everything they say about it on Rotten Tomatoes is true, but -- even with its flaws -- I kind of liked it. I think it certainly rates better than 39%.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Where the Truth Lies", it is 1957, and the famed comedic duo Vince Collins(Colin Firth) and Lanny Morris(Kevin Bacon) have just concluded a very successful Veterans Day telethon in Miami Beach. On arriving in New Jersey to work in a nightclub, a… More
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Where the Truth Lies", it is 1957, and the famed comedic duo Vince Collins(Colin Firth) and Lanny Morris(Kevin Bacon) have just concluded a very successful Veterans Day telethon in Miami Beach. On arriving in New Jersey to work in a nightclub, a dead body is discovered in their hotel bathtub. The body is that of Maureen O'Flaherty(Rachel Blanchard), the maid who served Lanny in Miami Beach and who he promised an interview for her college paper.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]It is 1972, years since Vince and Lanny have worked together. Vince is writing a tell-all biography about his years performing with Lanny with the help of journalist Karen O'Connor(Alison Lohman). Coincedentally, she runs into Lanny on a transcontinental flight. And Lanny is writing his own version of events...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Written and directed by Atom Egoyan, "Where the Truth Lies" is a glossy but uninvolving mystery about celebrity and hero worship, and why it may never be a good idea to meet your heroes. Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon are at the top of their games and have great chemistry working together but Alison Lohman is extraordinarily ineffective in a key role.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Atom Egoyan still shows a competence for complex narratives by juggling multiple settings at one time but his storytelling skills are not as good as they once were. To start, Karen has an extra emotional connection to the duo and manages to become part of the story she is covering, but this also means we do not get to learn that much about Vince and Lanny outside of their lifestyles. It should be noted that the body would have been a huge scandal in 1957, not something that would have been glossed over. And where it might be important how the body got to New Jersey, it is not necessary to explain exactly what the comedians were doing there.[/font]

• Mike T

  
  An extremely sexy film noir that unfortunately never achieves any degree of tension or suspense. It's passively entertaining, to be sure, but I felt like the story called for a higher degree of psychological involvement. Alison Lohman, although talented and gorgeous, feels oddly… More
  An extremely sexy film noir that unfortunately never achieves any degree of tension or suspense. It's passively entertaining, to be sure, but I felt like the story called for a higher degree of psychological involvement. Alison Lohman, although talented and gorgeous, feels oddly out of place to the extent that her performance distracts from the rest of the film at times. Colin Firth deserves special mention for a superb piece of acting, and Kevin Bacon isn't bad either.

• Daniel P

  
  Trashy, thrilling and surprisingly well plotted, <i>Where The Truth Lies</i> is <i>Wild Things</i>' brainier older brother. Bolstered by excellent performances from Colin Firth and Alison Lohman, the film is a cleverly engineered who and why-dunnit that… More
  Trashy, thrilling and surprisingly well plotted, <i>Where The Truth Lies</i> is <i>Wild Things</i>' brainier older brother. Bolstered by excellent performances from Colin Firth and Alison Lohman, the film is a cleverly engineered who and why-dunnit that looks stunning and is very evocative - the sleaze is palpable. Hampered by an NC-17 rating in the US, it's worth seeking out and it holds up on second viewing.

• Brian R

  
  Atom Egoyan's most daring picture. I don't understand why a lot of people thought Alison Lohman was badly miscast. She wasn't bad at all and she pretty much held my attention throughtout the rest of the picture. Kevin Bacon is good as is Rachel Blanchard as Maureen but… More
  Atom Egoyan's most daring picture. I don't understand why a lot of people thought Alison Lohman was badly miscast. She wasn't bad at all and she pretty much held my attention throughtout the rest of the picture. Kevin Bacon is good as is Rachel Blanchard as Maureen but the best performance comes from Colin Firth as Vince Collins, who is a sharp character with a conscience even when he's at his most vulnerable. The best scenes in the picture is the menage à trois sequence and the very last act of the picture. It is the best not because of the sexual acts the characters engage in but the way how important key information is mentioned through voiceover. I can understand why such and such has happened, who was the real accomplice in the murder, and who was the one made responsible. Egoyan's filmmaking trademarks is evident in "Where The Truth Lies", shifting the narrative through time, making me drift through the process while also being fascinated on screen. Themes involving damaged women is evident, first with Maureen, then Karen (Lohman) and a maybe a third would be the young girl who portrays Alice (Kristin Adams). I don't think this film is one of Egoyan's best's, WTTL almost feels like a TV movie, and yet at the same time the picture left quite an impression on me. It's one of those picture I wouldn't mind going back to.

• Dimitris S

  
  Generic and reckless in the depth of it.Egoyan loses the center stage or you can call it...holy bible of philosophy and while we're watching this supposed film noir,all I'm thinking is where's the great director of Exotica...

• Barry L

  
  Brilliant acting and story in this film.

• Ina S

  
  Gripping to the last minute, very good and entertaining. Great lead performances.

• Wu C

  
  Great little mystery from Toronto director Egoyan.

• Laurence C

  
  Appropriately sexy and intriguing, but the directing is so showy and flashy that when the big surprise takes off, it isn't as shocking as expected. But there's something traumatizing about it... and not only THAT scene (viewers will understand...).

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