Where the Truth Lies

While Where the Truth Lies is undoubtedly director Atom Egoyan’s most mainstream effort to date, the film – despite a surfeit of positive attributes – never quite becomes much more than a mildly diverting period piece. Alison Lohman stars as Karen O’Connor, an ambitious reporter who’s writing a book revolving around the unsolved case of a dead woman that was found in the hotel room of ’50s lounge acts Lanny (Kevin Bacon) and Vince (Colin Firth). Both men have their own reasons for wanting to keep the truth hidden, which only increases Karen’s determination to uncover it. It’s clear almost immediately that Egoyan is going for a vibe of lushness rather than realism, and – along with cinematographer Paul Sarossy – there’s no denying that Where the Truth Lies succeeds on a purely visceral level (the film occasionally resembles a ’50s-era production, complete with well-placed flourishes of melodrama). But in terms of developing the characters, Egoyan stumbles; though Lohman’s Karen becomes fully realized by the time the end credits roll, the problem is that she’s just not a terribly compelling figure. Far more interesting are Lanny and Vince, though Egoyan relegates them to second tier status (the filmmaker also neglects to explore their chemistry as a team, choosing instead to focus on their individual qualities). It certainly doesn’t help that Egoyan takes the emphasis off these characters towards the end, as the film’s mystery comes to the forefront (twists and turns abound in the last 30 minutes). Still, Bacon and Firth deliver extremely effective performances, to the extent that it’s fairly easy to overlook some of the story’s more overt flaws.

**1/2 out of ****