Where the Truth Lies

Where the Truth Lies is a ponderous, annoying piece of crap from ponderous, annoying writer-director Atom Egoyan. A journalist, who idolized a comedy duo in the '50s, sets to write about them in the '70s, and discovers the secret of why they broke up, the real reason there was a dead girl in the hotel suite they were about to occupy, their sexual predilictions, and other stupidity. It wants to emulate a film noir mystery, but can't quite get its act together. Don't bother, even with Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth playing the comedy team. Interestingly, it is from a book by usually-good songwriter and playwright Rupert Holmes --- who you know for "The Pina Colada Song" and the plays Drood and Accomplice --- so I wonder if the source material is equally bad. I'll report back.

(Note added later:  Egoyan apparently had trouble with the MPAA on the rating for this movie, which may explain some of the problems of flow, even though he ultimately released it unrated.  I continue to be amused that the MPAA doesn't have any problem with violence, but goes three bubbles off plumb about sex.  See, for example, the scene in The Cooler where Alex Baldwin brutalizes William Macy's son and son's girlfriend -- which was fine -- vs the scene where Macy gives Maria Bello oral sex -- which had to be recut to not show pubic hair or too big an orgasm.)