Regular Price $14.94

Starring: Kevin Bacon,  Colin Firth,  Alison Lohman,  David Hayman,  Rachel Blanchard, 
Directed By: Atom Egoyan, 
Rated: Unrated
Release Date: 2005
Studio: THINKFilm
Format: AC-3,  Closed-captioned,  Color,  Dolby,  Dubbed,  DVD-Video,  Subtitled,  Widescreen,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)

Product Description
A female journalist tries to uncover the truth behind the breakup years earlier of a celebrated comedy team after the duo found a girl dead in their hotel room. Though both had airtight alibis and neither was accused the incident put an end to their act.System Requirements:Running Time: 108 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: NR UPC: 043396138988 Manufacturer No: 13898

Amazon.com
Director Atom Egoyan's 2005 film Where the Truth Lies is laden with nudity, sex, violence, lies, blackmail, betrayal… and really, what more could you want? Other than some genuine tension, a more compelling story, and better acting, that is. In adapting Rupert Holmes' novel, the Cairo-born Egoyan (Ararat, Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter) has taken on a murder mystery with film noir elements that will leave many viewers wondering exactly "whodunit" until the final few scenes; and while that's surely a good thing, the ride itself simply isn't all that scintillating. Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth star as a (Dean) Martin & (Jerry) Lewis-style team whose principal talents seem to consist mainly of pill-popping, soulless sex with a stream of nubile young women, and hosting an annual polio telethon. Fifteen years after their '50s heyday, journalist Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman), who appeared on the telethon as a child, seeks out the pair to determine why they split up and, not coincidentally, what really happened to the dead girl with whom they had dallied the night before. Bacon is reasonably unctuous as the leering Lanny Morris; but Firth is uninspired as the more elusive Vince Collins, and although Lohman is game, she sometimes seems out of her depth in a role that calls for her to both seduce and be seduced, to manipulate and be manipulated. Egoyan, who also wrote the screenplay, has an eye for odd little details (much is made of Pan Am's first class dinner service, for instance) and an ear for great music (the soundtrack includes tunes by Charles Mingus, Louis Prima, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Funkadelic) and good dialogue ("Having to be a nice guy is the toughest job in the world when you're not"). But the film is curiously tepid; the sex is unconvincing, the mystery lacks a sense of danger, and the resolution is hardly shocking. One wishes that, having dipped into this genre, Egoyan had gone all out and made a film as delightfully sleazy as, say, Basic Instinct. --Sam Graham

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

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.Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)

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.Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)

Save your money
Tepid, predictable, and boring. It's astounding that Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth could be in a movie this bad.Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)

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.Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)

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.Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)

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