Lying

Ok, this is just a terrible movie. I knew that going into this. But what, or who rather, I expected to see in this movie was Leelee Sobieski. The cover and trailer to this movie is just very misleading. She is just a neighbor of Sevingy's character who waves flags around to get her attention, and seeing she can't, stops by for a short time maybe twice. That's it. She is not a main character whatsoever or even important. They are very awkward scenes and I couldn't even make sense of them. But that pretty much sums up the whole movie.The main reason I rented this though, wasn't mainly for Sobieski but for Anthony Roth Costanzo's role, who is now a distinguished and famous counter tenor. And one of my most favorite opera singers. I loved his role as Francis (which he won an award for) in "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries" (also with Leelee Sobieski.) So I wanted to see him in this movie, "Lying," as well. After watching this very very boring movie for some time anxiously waiting for him, I suddenly heard him singing out of nowhere at a random part. He sounded to be coming from outside the house, and with Sevingy's character not letting them go outside, all 4 girls end up running around the house trying to find out him and where this voice is coming from. Sometimes it sounds like he is in the house, in different places. So the whole scene just shows them frantically running around, while Sevingy's character ends up just standing at the fireplace with her glass of wine just watching and laughing at them. After a whole 5 minutes of this, she finally tells them that "he's in the fireplace" and they rush to see. He sings one last time. And that was that. He is never seen or heard again. His voice was beautiful and it was a fun scene at first but then it just became quite spooky and weird like he was a ghost. When asked if she knew who or what it was, she tells the girls "no." Of course, she has a lot of secrets. They have a hard time believing this at first, but they all finally relax. One of the girls decides he should have a name, and picked out "Timothy." So that's the story of the character "Timothy." I was prepared that he just only might be a "voice" in the movie, and that if he was, that it would still be worth paying the money to see this. Was it? Ummmm......Other than that, it is just a really weird movie with actors who don't know what to do most of the time and so much randomness that doesn't make much sense. I don't know why this "M" decided to make this movie, and in only 15 days with NO actual script. Perhaps it was an experiment? Well, epic fail. Congratulations. I don't understand at all how or why this movie is still around but not a great one such as "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries." I had to buy it on ebay.

Sometimes the best sign of really affecting art is a response of strong opinions. LYING seems to be a deeply rewarding exploration for some, and a polarizing experience for others. I urge people to see this as an attraction and not a deterrent... because what it means is that LYING has somehow bypassed the filter of the "system" that tries to condition films to fit the mold of what studios think the vague, broad audience wants. It is a rare example of creative liberation on the part of the filmmaker. So what you are getting is a film that does not treat you (the viewer) as a child, with easy plot points, melodrama or on the button literal "meanings" to things. On the contrary, M Blash treats us with a great deal of respect for our intelligence, and seems to be confident in us as viewers to cull our own experiences to find poignancy in his characters and images.LYING is a fantastic mystery film, of the rarest kind. The type that explores the unsolvable mysteries of human behavior, relationships and interactions. The clues are all in the gestures, the tone of voice, the phrasings, in eyes and on the faces of these four women, and it is exciting to watch because of strong and etherial performances from Jena Malone, Chloe Sevigny, Halley Wegryn Gross, Maya Goldsmith and Leelee Sobieski. Not to mention beautiful, hazy cinematography that is imperfect, yes, but rich with texture and a fitting rawness.Lying is of course, the central theme. The different ways that people lie to each other, particularly in adulthood, that makes us question how well we really know our friends and acquaintances around us. But while LYING does provoke you to contemplate why people lie, it's focus is on HOW people lie. Blash's film does not try to force a moral stance or a definitive statement about lying down your throat. It's up to you to figure out the "why", and decide what levels of falsehood you are willing to live with and what has gone too far.The search for the singing voice is an amazing scene. It is the centerpiece of LYING, by far the most memorable sequence, and so powerful when we see Sevigny's character sitting back and marveling over the hysterics her lies have created.A double feature with Van Sant's GERRY? I literally can not think of a greater compliment for this film.