Where the Truth Lies
THINKFilm | Release Date: October 14, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
14
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
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. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A mood of lush romantic decadence -- sleaze made enigmatic -- hovers over Where the Truth Lies, which has a score that works so hard to evoke "Vertigo" that it may leave you dizzy. Read full review
80
EmpireAlan Morrison
A rare film in which the style IS the substance. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
High-gloss trash but compulsively watchable. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Kevin Bacon is on a roll right now after several good roles, and here he channels diabolical sleaze while mugging joylessly before the telethon cameras. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A fascinating ride through morally ambiguous territory to a place you've never been before. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyBen Kenigsberg
When conventional answers arrive, Where the Truth Lies seems as cheesy as its title -- but its disorienting layers of narrative make the double-entendre almost profound. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The real reason to see it is its style, which sets an otherwise fairly unremarkable whodunit in a seedy, lite-Lynchian wonderland that's enjoyable to hang out in for a while. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
There are moments here so out of whack that you almost wonder if David Lynch isn't snickering somewhere at having fooled everyone into thinking someone else made the film. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Egoyan drains the life right out of the material, and the result is a chilly, complicated thriller that's neither thrilling nor a "Through the Looking Glass" head spinner. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
Entertaining and even affecting, Where the Truth Lies is a failure primarily because it doesn't do justice to its originator, Rupert Holmes' dishy 2003 novel, which shared both of the aforementioned characteristics but also was extremely funny. The film, directed by Atom Egoyan, is not. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Atom Egoyan's most mainstream and genre-oriented picture in his 20-year career applies a thick noir lacquer to a jumbled, time-jumping tale of a young female journalist prying the facts out of the aging entertainers and their cronies. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Egoyan's sensibility doesn't quite fit the material. His trademark stone-faced austerity never bends to capture the black comedy in the dissonance between his characters' public and private lives. It almost demands a trashier approach. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It's compelling in the way many B-movies are - cheap, sleazy, and lacking the depth we have come to associate with this director. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Egoyan's uncharacteristic bid for the mainstream flames out on many levels, but it's hard not to stare with fascination at the dying embers. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
In the end, it is Mr. Egoyan's fealty to the novel, its feints and dodges, that proves the film's undoing. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Stilted film squanders an intriguing premise. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Terrific performances by Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth as a comic duo clearly modeled on Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin get swallowed up in Atom Egoyan's muddled murder mystery. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverMelissa Levine
Again, Lohman's lack of power--and passion--saps the story of its life. It's a shame, because a bold performance would have given Firth and Bacon even more to work with, and the relationships between and among the members of that ménage à trois could have really begun to zing. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A strange mix of showbiz whodunit and soft-core eroticism, with a couple of fine actors - Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth - wandering around stunned and stoned-looking, as if someone slipped them a mickey. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Ken Tucker
The time shifts are awkward, and Egoyan displays little of the deftness of characterization he evinced in such movies as "Exotica" (1994) and "The Sweet Hereafter" (1997); the result is a cold scold of a movie. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
This showbiz Rashomon has continuity, as well as credibility, problems. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Malevolence is in generous supply throughout the film. Easy enjoyment is not.
40
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Canadian director Atom Egoyan delivers a rare misfire with Where the Truth Lies, a shockingly fatuous murder mystery with pseudo-intellectual pretensions. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Alison Lohman isn't very convincing as the reporter who's trying to dredge up some dirt on the entertainers, and the elaborate flashback structure can't hide the fact that the story never fully comes to life. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
An erotic thriller. It is also an Atom Egoyan picture, which means any claims either to actual eroticism or conventional thrills are theoretical at best. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
As cold and unseemly as that stiff found in the shower. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This movie isn't over-the-top -- it doesn't know where the top is. Trash addicts will eat up every graphic minute, even if they prefer to wait for the DVD. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Never before has Egoyan made a picture this egregiously, relentlessly bad. Read full review
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