CANNES -- Atom Egoyan has delivered a big, slick and sexy mystery in Where the Truth Lies, turning the Rupert Holmes novel into a sumptuous tale of show business hype and duplicity.
Boasting a handsome cast, top-flight design and evocative music, the film should have no trouble attracting audiences seeking high-style, grownup entertainment.
Rich in backstage atmosphere and the glamour of big-time hotels and nightclubs, the movie delves with considerable wit into the ugly side of the entertainment industry.
In the late '50s, Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) and Vince Collins (Colin Firth) are the biggest comedy duo in America. The last thing they need is the naked body of a beautiful blonde in the bathtub of their New Jersey hotel room.
In fact, the last thing the comedians do as partners is to deny they had anything to do with the dead woman, and they promptly break up their long-standing and hugely successful act.
Fifteen years later, a young writer named Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman) wins a fat contract from a publisher to write a book about Vince Collins, and it is through her eyes that the secret behind their split is slowly revealed.
Using flashbacks from different points of view, Egoyan traces the lies and deception that have kept the sordid events that followed a Miami telethon from a still-adoring public.
Larry and Vince had been forced by a no-nonsense gangster named Sally Sanmarco (David Hayman) to fly directly from the Miami gig to the opening of his New Jersey nightclub, where the corpse was found.
As O'Connor discovers, many facts were quickly hidden and the comics appear to have covered their tracks cleverly but with their careers pretty much over by the '70s, their mutual desire for public acclaim drives them to reveal a version of the truth.
But the young writer cannot resist being drawn into the pair's intense world of fabrication and celebrity worship. "Having to be a nice guy is the hardest job in the world when you're not," Larry tells her.
Egoyan has enormous fun peeling the wrappers of showbiz lore so that we see the hoodlums, the drug taking, kinky sex and unstoppable violence. Soon O'Connor is wrapped up in it as much as the superstars who might or might not have committed murder.
The film obeys the sometimes strained logic of mystery novels so that there's more than the occasional need to suspend disbelief, but Egoyan's script moves slickly along to a satisfying conclusion.
Bacon is as taut and effective as usual, and Firth might prove a revelation to those who have seen him only in period pictures and English comedies. Lohman carries the weight of lead investigator with immense charm and no little grit.
Best of all, the film looks wonderful, and full credit is due to production designer Phillip Barker and costume designer Beth Pasternak. Mychael Danna's music, too, is sly and seductive, adding a touch of noir class to the proceedings.
WHERE THE TRUTH LIES
Serendipity Point Films, First Choice Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Atom Egoyan
Producer: Robert Lantos
Co-producers: Sandra Cunningham, Chris Chrisafis
Based on the novel by: Rupert Holmes
Cinematographer: Paul Sarossy
Editor: Susan Shipton
Production designer: Phillip Barker
Music: Mychael Danna
Costume designer: Beth Pasternak
Cast:
Lanny Morris: Kevin Bacon
Vince Collins: Colin Firth
Karen O'Connor: Alison Lohman
Maureen: Rachel Blanchard
Reuben: David Hayman
Sally Sanmarco: David Hayman
Alice: Kristin Adams
Bonnie: Sonja Bennett
Mrs. O'Flaherty: Deborah Grover
Jack Scaglia: Beau Starr
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 107 minutes...
Boasting a handsome cast, top-flight design and evocative music, the film should have no trouble attracting audiences seeking high-style, grownup entertainment.
Rich in backstage atmosphere and the glamour of big-time hotels and nightclubs, the movie delves with considerable wit into the ugly side of the entertainment industry.
In the late '50s, Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) and Vince Collins (Colin Firth) are the biggest comedy duo in America. The last thing they need is the naked body of a beautiful blonde in the bathtub of their New Jersey hotel room.
In fact, the last thing the comedians do as partners is to deny they had anything to do with the dead woman, and they promptly break up their long-standing and hugely successful act.
Fifteen years later, a young writer named Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman) wins a fat contract from a publisher to write a book about Vince Collins, and it is through her eyes that the secret behind their split is slowly revealed.
Using flashbacks from different points of view, Egoyan traces the lies and deception that have kept the sordid events that followed a Miami telethon from a still-adoring public.
Larry and Vince had been forced by a no-nonsense gangster named Sally Sanmarco (David Hayman) to fly directly from the Miami gig to the opening of his New Jersey nightclub, where the corpse was found.
As O'Connor discovers, many facts were quickly hidden and the comics appear to have covered their tracks cleverly but with their careers pretty much over by the '70s, their mutual desire for public acclaim drives them to reveal a version of the truth.
But the young writer cannot resist being drawn into the pair's intense world of fabrication and celebrity worship. "Having to be a nice guy is the hardest job in the world when you're not," Larry tells her.
Egoyan has enormous fun peeling the wrappers of showbiz lore so that we see the hoodlums, the drug taking, kinky sex and unstoppable violence. Soon O'Connor is wrapped up in it as much as the superstars who might or might not have committed murder.
The film obeys the sometimes strained logic of mystery novels so that there's more than the occasional need to suspend disbelief, but Egoyan's script moves slickly along to a satisfying conclusion.
Bacon is as taut and effective as usual, and Firth might prove a revelation to those who have seen him only in period pictures and English comedies. Lohman carries the weight of lead investigator with immense charm and no little grit.
Best of all, the film looks wonderful, and full credit is due to production designer Phillip Barker and costume designer Beth Pasternak. Mychael Danna's music, too, is sly and seductive, adding a touch of noir class to the proceedings.
WHERE THE TRUTH LIES
Serendipity Point Films, First Choice Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Atom Egoyan
Producer: Robert Lantos
Co-producers: Sandra Cunningham, Chris Chrisafis
Based on the novel by: Rupert Holmes
Cinematographer: Paul Sarossy
Editor: Susan Shipton
Production designer: Phillip Barker
Music: Mychael Danna
Costume designer: Beth Pasternak
Cast:
Lanny Morris: Kevin Bacon
Vince Collins: Colin Firth
Karen O'Connor: Alison Lohman
Maureen: Rachel Blanchard
Reuben: David Hayman
Sally Sanmarco: David Hayman
Alice: Kristin Adams
Bonnie: Sonja Bennett
Mrs. O'Flaherty: Deborah Grover
Jack Scaglia: Beau Starr
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 107 minutes...
- 5/13/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Michael Cunningham's 1990 novel makes an assured, if not entirely satisfying, transition to the big screen in this terrifically acted exploration of the bonds that transcend traditional notions of family.
Although gay men will identify most with the story of love between longtime friends, the literary pedigree and tender emotional tone of "A Home at the End of the World", as well as the presence of Colin Farrell, could attract a far broader art house audience. The film closed Los Angeles' Outfest on Monday before its theatrical bow Friday as the second release from Warner Independent Pictures.
In adapting his novel -- which traverses two decades, from the giddiness of the late '60s to the onset of the AIDS epidemic -- Cunningham ("The Hours") has reduced its complexity and detail. While accomplished theater director Michael Mayer ("Side Man") orchestrates the material with a feel for its intimacy as well as its social sweep, the later sections of the story are more static than they should be, muting the film's impact.
Without the book's penetrating descriptive prose, the dialogue too often sounds like the pointed eloquence of literary characters -- especially in the late going, when the story grows increasingly episodic and the characters begin to feel less like individuals than generational symbols.
Still, Mayer displays a true affinity for actors, and his cast delivers subtle work. As the central character, a young man caught between innocence and experience, joy and loss, versatile Irish actor Farrell evinces more vulnerability and ingenuousness than he's yet shown onscreen. (But he doesn't show everything: A full-frontal shot of the actor proved too distracting for audiences and didn't make the final edit.)
The story begins in 1967 Cleveland, where 9-year-old Bobby (Andrew Chalmers) worships his older brother, Carlton (Ryan Donowho), a lanky, self-possessed teen so at ease in the world that he seems to lower its pulse. They trip together on acid and their own wild potential. When Carlton dies in a horrific accident, it's the beginning of Bobby's unmooring from his nuclear family.
By the time he's orphaned at 16 (Erik Smith plays the teenage Bobby) and moves in with his best friend, Jonathan (Harris Allan), he has long since become an integral part of that household. He and Jonathan's mother (Sissy Spacek) enjoy a deep connection, beginning with the lovely scene, complete with Laura Nyro on the stereo, when Bobby turns Alice on to pot.
Having experienced brutal loss so young, Bobby looks upon the people he cares about with a sweetly unfocused gaze, as though he dare not tempt fate by attaching himself to anyone again. Even when he and Jonathan add sex to their relationship, Bobby views their actions merely as an expression of free-floating love.
When Bobby and Jonathan reconnect as young adults -- played by Farrell and the impressive Dallas Roberts, in his first major screen role -- Bobby is yet again joining Jonathan's household. This time it's an East Village walkup Jonathan shares with the exuberant Clare (Robin Penn Wright), survivor of a bad marriage. She's in love with Jonathan, who's still in love with Bobby and moving restlessly through a succession of one-night stands. The trio navigate their unresolved longings, toward a tentative equilibrium.
Clare is the kind of role that could be a bohemian cliche in lesser hands, but the redoubtable Wright Penn transcends the character's showiness, infusing her with an aching hope. She and Roberts convey the fragility beneath their characters' banter, while Farrell embodies Bobby's guileless charm.
But as strong as the performances of Farrell, Roberts and Wright Penn are, the film's early sections are its most affecting. From the apt period tracks by Nyro, Leonard Cohen and the Band to the patterned fabrics of Beth Pasternak's costumes and Michael Shaw's evocative production design, the Ohio scenes are alive with the birth pangs of a new world. The young actors, who are excellent physical matches for their adult counterparts, provide outstanding work.
Throughout, Enrique Chediak's widescreen camerawork is intimate and vivid. Duncan Sheik's understated score enhances the polished production.
A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Warner Independent Pictures
Killer Films/John Wells Prods./Hart Sharp Entertainment/Plymouth Projects
Credits:
Director: Michael Mayer
Screenwriter: Michael Cunningham
Producers: Tom Hulce, Katie Roumel, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, John N. Hart Jr., Jeffrey Sharp, John Wells
Executive producers: John Sloss, Michael Hogan
Director of photography: Enrique Chediak
Production designer: Michael Shaw
Music: Duncan Sheik
Co-producers: Jocelyn Hayes, Bradford Simpson, Robert Kessel, Julia Rask
Costume designer: Beth Pasternak
Editors: Lee Percy, Andrew Marcus
Cast:
Bobby Morrow: Colin Farrell
Clare: Robin Wright Penn
Jonathan: Dallas Roberts
Alice Glover: Sissy Spacek
Bobby (1974): Erik Smith
Jonathan (1974): Harris Allan
Carlton: Ryan Donowho
Bobby (1967): Andrew Chalmers
Ned Glover: Matt Frewer
Running time -- 97 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Although gay men will identify most with the story of love between longtime friends, the literary pedigree and tender emotional tone of "A Home at the End of the World", as well as the presence of Colin Farrell, could attract a far broader art house audience. The film closed Los Angeles' Outfest on Monday before its theatrical bow Friday as the second release from Warner Independent Pictures.
In adapting his novel -- which traverses two decades, from the giddiness of the late '60s to the onset of the AIDS epidemic -- Cunningham ("The Hours") has reduced its complexity and detail. While accomplished theater director Michael Mayer ("Side Man") orchestrates the material with a feel for its intimacy as well as its social sweep, the later sections of the story are more static than they should be, muting the film's impact.
Without the book's penetrating descriptive prose, the dialogue too often sounds like the pointed eloquence of literary characters -- especially in the late going, when the story grows increasingly episodic and the characters begin to feel less like individuals than generational symbols.
Still, Mayer displays a true affinity for actors, and his cast delivers subtle work. As the central character, a young man caught between innocence and experience, joy and loss, versatile Irish actor Farrell evinces more vulnerability and ingenuousness than he's yet shown onscreen. (But he doesn't show everything: A full-frontal shot of the actor proved too distracting for audiences and didn't make the final edit.)
The story begins in 1967 Cleveland, where 9-year-old Bobby (Andrew Chalmers) worships his older brother, Carlton (Ryan Donowho), a lanky, self-possessed teen so at ease in the world that he seems to lower its pulse. They trip together on acid and their own wild potential. When Carlton dies in a horrific accident, it's the beginning of Bobby's unmooring from his nuclear family.
By the time he's orphaned at 16 (Erik Smith plays the teenage Bobby) and moves in with his best friend, Jonathan (Harris Allan), he has long since become an integral part of that household. He and Jonathan's mother (Sissy Spacek) enjoy a deep connection, beginning with the lovely scene, complete with Laura Nyro on the stereo, when Bobby turns Alice on to pot.
Having experienced brutal loss so young, Bobby looks upon the people he cares about with a sweetly unfocused gaze, as though he dare not tempt fate by attaching himself to anyone again. Even when he and Jonathan add sex to their relationship, Bobby views their actions merely as an expression of free-floating love.
When Bobby and Jonathan reconnect as young adults -- played by Farrell and the impressive Dallas Roberts, in his first major screen role -- Bobby is yet again joining Jonathan's household. This time it's an East Village walkup Jonathan shares with the exuberant Clare (Robin Penn Wright), survivor of a bad marriage. She's in love with Jonathan, who's still in love with Bobby and moving restlessly through a succession of one-night stands. The trio navigate their unresolved longings, toward a tentative equilibrium.
Clare is the kind of role that could be a bohemian cliche in lesser hands, but the redoubtable Wright Penn transcends the character's showiness, infusing her with an aching hope. She and Roberts convey the fragility beneath their characters' banter, while Farrell embodies Bobby's guileless charm.
But as strong as the performances of Farrell, Roberts and Wright Penn are, the film's early sections are its most affecting. From the apt period tracks by Nyro, Leonard Cohen and the Band to the patterned fabrics of Beth Pasternak's costumes and Michael Shaw's evocative production design, the Ohio scenes are alive with the birth pangs of a new world. The young actors, who are excellent physical matches for their adult counterparts, provide outstanding work.
Throughout, Enrique Chediak's widescreen camerawork is intimate and vivid. Duncan Sheik's understated score enhances the polished production.
A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Warner Independent Pictures
Killer Films/John Wells Prods./Hart Sharp Entertainment/Plymouth Projects
Credits:
Director: Michael Mayer
Screenwriter: Michael Cunningham
Producers: Tom Hulce, Katie Roumel, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, John N. Hart Jr., Jeffrey Sharp, John Wells
Executive producers: John Sloss, Michael Hogan
Director of photography: Enrique Chediak
Production designer: Michael Shaw
Music: Duncan Sheik
Co-producers: Jocelyn Hayes, Bradford Simpson, Robert Kessel, Julia Rask
Costume designer: Beth Pasternak
Editors: Lee Percy, Andrew Marcus
Cast:
Bobby Morrow: Colin Farrell
Clare: Robin Wright Penn
Jonathan: Dallas Roberts
Alice Glover: Sissy Spacek
Bobby (1974): Erik Smith
Jonathan (1974): Harris Allan
Carlton: Ryan Donowho
Bobby (1967): Andrew Chalmers
Ned Glover: Matt Frewer
Running time -- 97 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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