"Where the Truth Lies": Showbiz movie shoulda cast a different dame
Books and movies, as we all know, are two very different creatures; filmmakers need to take extensive liberties with books to bring them to the screen. But Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan ("The Sweet Hereafter") has employed a rather odd strategy in adapting Rupert Holmes' zippy showbiz novel "Where the Truth Lies": He's drained all the comedy out of it. What remains, alas, is lukewarm noir — and not much fun.
Holmes' novel's irresistible narrator, O'Connor (she rarely used her first name, Karen), was a glamorously tough cookie; a young, wisecracking reporter ready to use whatever means necessary to learn the truth behind the story that's landed in her lap. Vince Collins (Colin Firth) and Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) are a longtime comedy duo whose partnership was marred in the '50s by a scandal: a dead girl found in their hotel suite. Years later, the act has faltered, and O'Connor (Alison Lohman) wants to tell what really happened, but Vince and Lanny have a few more secrets up their sleeves.
"Where the Truth Lies," with Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman, Rachel Blanchard, David Hayman, Maury Chaykin. Written and directed by Atom Egoyan, from the novel by Rupert Holmes. 107 minutes. Not rated, contains nudity and sexuality (no one under 18 admitted). Varsity.
There's plenty of potential here for a nicely crackling noir, and Egoyan gets many of the details just right: the rain, the sinister music, the shiny '70s fashions (which, for Vince and Lanny, indicate a slightly tired hipness), the late-night meetings at dark Chinese restaurants. But the key role, O'Connor, is badly miscast. Lohman, with her unformed, little-girl voice, has done good work playing confused teenagers ("White Oleander," "Matchstick Men"), but it's hard to buy her as a fast-thinking grown-up. Perhaps it's a different take on the role, but the whip-smart O'Connor of the book — who played with language like a terrier with a toy — is far more appealing.
Firth and Bacon do good, understated work as a pair of complicated not-quite-friends; Bacon, in particular, has a lovely wryness. But the film's twisty structure — mirroring that of the book — eventually grows tiresome without a strong central character to anchor it. By the time we find out where the truth lies — well, it's too late to care.