No lying: 'Truth' is lousy

WHERE THE TRUTH LIES — * 1/2 — Alison Lohman, Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth; not rated, probable NC-17 (sex, nudity, profanity, vulgarity, drugs, violence); see Page W2 for theaters.

As it turns out, the furor and hubbub about the ratings squabbles over "Where the Truth Lies" may have just been a smokescreen to cover up the film's storytelling deficiencies.

The truth is, it's a pretty lousy movie, a sometimes confused and confusing mystery-drama that's only noteworthy because of the heavily publicized — and possibly orchestrated — ratings issues. (The MPAA slapped the film with an NC-17 rating because of a few strong sex scenes.)

Also, the filmmakers' charges that the sex scenes are necessary to the film, making it an "artistic" issue, is complete rubbish. The scenes are gratuitous and sleazy, as is the entire movie.

"Where the Truth Lies" is based on the best-selling novel by former musician Rupert Holmes. The story follows Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman), a young entertainment journalist who's looking into the career of a showbiz duo (Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth), whose long partnership came to an end after both men were implicated in the suspicious death of a female hotel employee (Rachel Blanchard). Karen is determined to find out the truth by any means necessary, which evidently requires her to cozy up to both men, who are understandably reluctant to discuss the incident.

In the hands of screenwriter-director Atom Egoyan, this material comes off as horribly contrived and unconvincing. It doesn't help that Bacon and Firth wear ludicrous old-age makeup and facial hair. Worse, we never really buy into their friendship and partnership (which was clearly inspired by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis). And Lohman ("Big Fish," "Matchstick Men") is not even remotely believable as a Hollywood veteran. She may be in her mid-20s, but she looks younger and more girlish, which makes the sex scenes even more uncomfortable.

"Where the Truth Lies" is not rated but would probably receive an NC-17 for scenes of simulated sex and other sexual contact (both straight and gay), male and full female nudity, occasional use of strong sexual profanity and crude sexual slang terms, as well as some strong drug content (use of hallucinogens and tranquilizers), and some violence (including fisticuffs). Running time: 108 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com