Where The Truth Lies (18)

Imagine you're a director being tapped to helm an edgy murder mystery involving a fictional 1950's showbiz duo in the vein of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. Who would you cast in the pivotal roles of Lanny Morris and Vince Collins? Some solid theatrical experience would be an asset. Actors with a musical and/or comedic background but with the depth of character to convince an audience that they're capable of murder. Keep in mind that the story shuttles back and forth between the 50's - when the crime actually takes place - and the early 70's, as a young female reporter named Karen O'Connor attempts to unlock the secret behind the dead blonde found in the bathtub of their Atlantic City hotel room; that means you'll need actors who can age believably on camera.

To Canadian director Atom Egoyan's credit, his casting choices for Lanny and Vince in his latest, WHERE THE TRUTH LIES, are decidedly left-field, opting to pair Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth in this film noir update that also stars Alison Lohman as the aforementioned newshound. Having parted ways soon after the murder two decades prior, Lanny and Vince are now each prepping their own memoirs hoping to cash in on what's left of their fame when O'Connor starts snooping around for clues. Each seeing an opportunity to drum up publicity for their respective books, they humour her questions about the murder but soon find themselves on the defensive as O'Connor proves to be more determined and clever than they had initially suspected.

In the few scenes they share together, Bacon and Firth project an odd sort of chemistry that I didn't entirely buy yet found fascinating to watch. It is mostly in their scenes apart, as O'Connor probes them individually about the events leading up to the discovery of the dead body, where these talented actors truly get to shine. As Lanny, Bacon exudes the slow-burning charisma of a wolfish Casanova who looks back wistfully on his glory days in the limelight, observing that "having to be a nice guy is the toughest job in the world when you're not." Firth's performance as Vince will be a revelation to anyone solely familiar with his work in romantic fare like BRIDGET JONES' DIARY and the PRIDE AND PREJUDICE miniseries; the more volatile of the two, Vince's surface veneer of suave British charm masks a hot-tempered - and perverse - side that reveals itself when push comes to shove. Oddly, it's the casting of Lohman - so good in last year's MATCHSTICK MEN - that proves to be the one real misstep in the film; her lightweight performance here lacks the grit required to portray a dogged female journalist - something of a novelty in the early 70's - who shares a special connection with Lanny and Vince that is unbeknownst to the pair.

Working from his own script (itself an adaptation of the Rupert Holmes novel), Egoyan dramatizes the story with a flair for the kink and sleaze that we all assume exists in show business. He taps into our voyeuristic instincts - the ones that compel us to buy those supermarket tabloids and ponder the true details behind irrelevant non-headlines like Tom Cruise's engagement to Katie Holmes or the breakup of 'Bennifer' - and lets us peer behind the curtain and witness a side of these two entertainers that their adoring fans never got to see. As for that climactic scene that threatened the film with a dreaded NC-17 rating in the U.S., it seems relatively tame in terms of its sexual content given the uproar. Still, the scene remains shocking in the best sense of the word in the way it reveals both the secret behind the murder and how it reflects on Lanny and Vince's enigmatic relationship. Weirdly captivating, WHERE THE TRUTH LIES is a warped piece of film noir unlike anything you'll see at the cinema this year.