Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

I choose movies based upon their premise, and their cast. Thus it was with high hopes that I decided to watch Where The Truth Lies. The movie stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth and Alison Lohman, and is based on a novel by Rupert Holmes (Yes, of "Escape", a.k.a. "The Piña Colada Song" fame).

Kevin and Colin star as Lanny and Vince, a comedy team duo reminiscent of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In fact, we first see them in the 1950's hosting a 39 hour telethon, raising funds for polio research. With their skits, music, and dance routines, they are heroes to all, especially to a little girl, Karen, a polio survivor. But back in Lanny and Vince's hotel suite, a woman named Maureen is found dead in the bathtub.

Flash forward 15 years later. The duo have split up, and barely spoken to each other since that night. No charges were ever filed, and neither will discuss the incident. But Karen is all grown up now, and a reporter. And she's determined to get the real story of that fateful night.

Good Stuff

The performances of all three actors were superb. Kevin Bacon's Lanny is frequently angry, and publicly a bit of a menace. Whereas Colin Firth's Vince is outwardly calm, and professional. But we quickly learn that he has a very dark side, and a violent nature. But only behind closed doors. As Karen, Alison Lohman gives us a soft-spoken, intelligent young woman who prides herself on always maintaining control. Yet we slowly come to learn that there's another side to her as well.

As the movie jumps back and forth in time quite frequently, and without any warning, it was important to always be able to discern the 50's from the 70's. While Lanny and Vince look pretty much the same, the wardrobes, the sets, and even the graininess of the film changed sufficiently, so that there was never any doubt which part of the story we're seeing.

The mystery surrounding Maureen's death did hold my interest, and I did find myself caring to know exactly what happened to her that night. I liked that as part of her investigation, Karen meets with the dead woman's mother. And has a conversation with her that is very poignant, and sets the stage for a later part of the story.

OK - That sounded pretty good… So what went wrong??

The main problem is that the pace is very slow, and the movie is quite boring at parts. Enough so that you might easily find yourself drifting away. Karen narrates throughout much of the story, using a monotone voice that merely lulls. Since all of the scenes are played out for us, the narration really served no purpose, and was in fact distracting. Lanny also narrates for us, as he's writing his own book about his life, and we hear his voice reading to us from his manuscript. Again, it didn't really add anything to have the extra narration.

The very adult nature of this film will turn off many a viewer. Besides the murder, there's mob involvement, violence, massive drugs, and sex. A whole lot of sex. Some will say "Yes but it was tastefully done". But others will say "Yes, but there was just way too much of it". I'm not going to choose a side, I'm just going to say that there are many sex scenes, many scenes of women's breasts, one full-frontal scene of a woman, and several shots of Kevin Bacon's behind. You can choose for yourself. But don't even think about letting the kids see it!

I did not read this book, but I have to believe that there was a whole lot of the story left out. Because the movie feels "choppy" and the ending a bit quick. As if they ran out of time so they threw the ending together very quickly. The story is intriguing, though, so I may just check out the novel. But, as a movie, it's a disappointment.

Recommended: No

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age