Director Atom Egoyan's films "The Sweet Hereafter" and "Erotica" may have secured respect and notoriety among critics, but mainstream audiences fail to identify Egoyan's name with his stellar filmography.
The paradox between critics and fans will continue to persist with Egoyan's adaptation of Rupert Holmes, "Where the Truth Lies." The film has been tailored into a tantalizing, provocative, somewhat complicated work of mystery with a cast of rising and well-known stars.
An obscure murder and an abundance of intriguing sexual foul play create a thick plot worth dying for.
A comedy duo's career has reached an all-time high in the 1950s, garnering fame in comedy clubs and telethons.
A young reporter, hoping to achieve a profile story for her college's campus newspaper goes to their hotel room for an interview. Unfortunately for them, the young reporter mysteriously ends up dead and submerged underwater in their hotel bathtub.
With help from the mob, both members of the comedy team, Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon of "Mystic River") and Vince Collins (Colin Firth of "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason") are not found liable for the murder. However, their careers instantly plummet because of the publicity.
For years, no one uncovers the truth behind the girl's untimely death.
Fifteen years after the murder, another young and aspiring reporter (Alison Lohman of "Big Fish") is determined to find the truth behind the murder.
Karen O'Connor has watched the team from its beginnings, and always had a keen admiration for Lanny Morris, the loudmouthed jokester and sex addict of the duo.
Unraveling the truth bit by bit, Karen finds herself in a mixture of drugs, alcohol, sex and scandal, spelling out a recipe for a psychedelic murder mystery.
The many twists and turns within the sexy conspiracy leave the viewer in awe of not only the graphic, slightly pornographic sex scenes, but also with the "who-done-it" factor.
There are a handful of possibilities for the killing of a young college student. The more clues O'Connor discovers, the more it seems everyone and anyone could have a hand in the 15-year-old murder mystery.
The cunning and manipulative way in which O'Connor deceives the men is achieved through the duo's drug-induced seduction methods.
The interaction between O'Connor, Morris and Collins is more intriguing with the addition of a $1 million book deal in which the comedy duo spills all their knowledge to O'Connor.
The book is intended to uncover the truth behind whether the girl in the tub committed suicide or was murdered. The hurtful truth uncovers so much more.
Everything is so perfectly concealed that the more details are discovered, the more confusing the story line is to follow.
The addition of drugs forces the viewer to question events and whether or not they are really happening. One such episode includes Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" in an intensely erotic m?(c)nager trios.
Lohman's bright and innocent acting is the perfect touch to an otherwise dark and sinister plot. Her initial impression of being na??ve and coy seems only a cover-up for her actual wit and charm.
Bacon and Firth make a flawless pair, similarly depicting the early careers of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Their style of comedy is rough, dirty, and perversely hilarious, using sexually implicit jokes.
Morris and Collins' smooth chemistry onstage is artfully mimicked behind the scenes. Whenever Morris goes a little too far, Collins is right by his side to clean it up.
"Where the Truth Lies" is playing at the Dipson on Hertel Avenue.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
