Customer Reviews

Deceiver [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A supurb roster of actors, headed by Tim Roth, bring to life this horrifying glimpse into the human mind and the psychoses of two individuals as the story behind a murder is uncovered. In the grand tradition of the Usual Suspects, the characters in Deceiver change dramatically from the intriguing beginning to the exciting end. Highly recommended for any lovers of mystery and psychological thrillers!

Admittedly, I watched this movie when I thought another one was coming on the TV, and haven't seen the DVD or VHS versions, but I kept watching, since I like some of the "tough guys" in the movie, especially Tim Roth.
It's a pretty good movie, unless you keep watching it, and realize that it's a scrambled version of the old Sean Connery film "The Offense", where a suspect (who may or may not be the murderer) "turns the tables" on the cops and has an altercation with the interrogating policeman (I won't ruin the end of "The Offense", but it's more gripping, in "The Offensive" than "Deceiver", in my opinion).
Apparently Sean Connery cut a deal with his studio to make a few "artsy" movies (including "The Offense" and "The Wall") if he made a bunch of James Bond movies.
"Deceiver" is pretty ok, and I kept watching, but "The Offense" is the source, and better. Presumably there were sources for "The Offense" though, but I don't know them.
Check out "The Offense", and prepare to be "offended"!!!

I really enjoyed this movie for its style and for some of the more compelling scenes. The murder is not solved and many interpretations of the "evidence" can be discussed to support the guilt or innocence of the two main suspects implicated in Elizabeth's death. It's a fun brain twister, and Tim Roth excels at playing the upper class jerk. There are a couple of memorable scenes but overall, this movie walks the line on being an involving exploration of the main characters. Almost great, but not quite.

Deciever aka Liar is caught in a real Catch22. On the one hand it wants to play mind games, to prove how opaque our first impressions really are. On the other it wants to be a drama about the moral impotence and bottled up rage of men. We don't know enough about the cop Braxton(Chris Penn) or his partner Kennisaw(Michael Rooker) to care about either their gambling or marital problems resprectively.

The opacity ofcourse is deliberate. If you want twists and turns then you must have mysterious characters doing inexplicable things. Well there goes the drama. The lack of character development allows the film-makers to do complete 180s with the plot, but any resulting suspense is academic with none of the viceral impact of say Se7en.

Credibility is a vital element when it comes to thrillers. Even when they're set in space we have to believe that the film-makers know as much as we do, that they are on the same ride as we are. But in Liar the Pate brother cheat, they give us flashbacks that are meant specifically for the audience. I believe they did this to avoid the supposed monotony of the one room setting, but the flashbacks all but destroy the film. If they can see beyond the characters' lies, it means that Liar is nothing more then manipulative mental masterbation where they provide the audience with red herrings to a solution they already know. As a frame of reference lets use Roman Polanski's underrated 1994 film Death & The Maiden. That film was set in a single location and used no flashbacks, but its characters were so well written and acted that it generated more genuine suspense in a single scene then Liar does in its entire running time. Another film, 1995's masterful The Usual Suspects justified the use of flashbacks by having a character tell a story and then let the director realise his story visually.

Did I even mention the film's laughable tendancy to treat Epilepsy as if it were the demon possessing Linda Blair in The Exorcist.

Its a shame really because the film is technically remarkable(lots of shadows, darkness and gold light). It also waists the brilliant Tim Roth, who as the rich, bitter, manipulative and epileptic suspect James Walter Wayland gives a preverse and powerful performance. Had the film been as clear eyed and sharp as Roth's performance we might have really had something here. Considering that Liar is ultimately about manipulation, it might be cleverly ironic that its authors would lie to and manipulate the audience. It would be cleverly ironic if weren't so incredibly frustrating.

The cool thing about watching movies constantly is that you see so many bad ones that occasionally a movie as slick as this plays out. The cast is top notch, as is the directing by the Pate brothers, whose other credits include "The Grave" and the short lived but cool TV show "GvsE". Plenty of twists and turns abound in this movie that centers around Roth(in one of his best performances) taking a lie ditector test from two shady cops(Rooker and Penn) to find out if he is a murderer. A film that relies on character development and suprises that pays off in the end with something to think about, this is a good one. It would be nice to see on DVD but is not yet released on that format.

Anyone watching this and expecting a routine crime film is in for a surprise.The film decends into increasing layers of complexity as the accused and the accusers motives rise from the plot.It's certainly a thought provoking film and one that needs to be watched at least twice.Few people will be able to unravel it on one viewing. Recommended.

Tim Roth gives a mesmerizing and commanding performance in this exceptional thriller. Roth plays the suspect in a brutal murder of a prostitute. He is brought in for lie detector test by detectives Chris Penn and Michael Rooker. Roth proves to be an exceptionally good liar, and a cat and mouse game ensues. Seems like our policemen have their own secrets, too. Penn is in debt to a bookie (played by a malicious Ellen Burstyn) for $20,000. Rooker's wife (Rosanna Arquette) is having an affair with her obstetrician. Somehow the extremely rich Roth knows all of this and uses it.

Renee Zelweger portrays the murder victim, and although she's not used a whole lot, she has some compelling scenes and evidence of her talent is blossoming.

Directors and Jonah and Joshua Pate have some effective camera angles; only the movie's ambiguous ending leaves one a little disappointed. But Roth's performance is great, and you should enjoy the tension. Rooker and Penn are also outstanding; Rooker is one of our most underappreciated actors.

I don't know the history of this film. It took me by surprise. I was trying to figure how a film with this cast managed to slip by me. Be that as it may, I sat for the watch and had quite a good time.

Here's the scoop. Tim Roth is brought in to take a polygraph test in a murder investigation. He's a bright, rich brat who suffers from temporal lobe epilepsy and has a thing for Absinthe. The detectives, Rooker and Penn, try to nail him with said polygraph, but it soon is revealed he knows more about them the they of him and a clever cat and mouse ensues.

This is a clever movie. The Pate brothers do a descent job in allowing the story to unfold. Somehow I got the impression they were going for a Cohen brothers take on things but something was a bit too noticeable in the direction. I was too aware of the camera. The performances were good save for the fact that Rooker got a bit too sweaty in a few scenes.

My only real argument is that a few things were left unraveled. Some of this might be due to the fact that I missed a few lines of dialogue. Was this due to bad sound mixing or have I been to a few too many rock concerts? Couldn't say, but overall this was a good romp. If you like clever, thriller mysteries this is not a bad way to spend your time.

The cop played by Rooker seriously bugged. He's this total hick cop. And what's even more unbeleivable is that Rosanne Arquette is his wife! Come on, when I think of her I think cosmopolitan, brassy, even sophisticated and a little tough. Putting her with Rooker's redneck cop character was the first thing that made this film lose points for me.

The old epilepsy-fueled-by-absinth demon, "sinisterly" explained to our bumbling cops by the good psychologist was another ridiculous scene.

Renee Zellweger's very Hollywood "heart-of-gold hooker" was perfect melodrama. A good example, her "hope-that-makes-you-sad" speech as she and Tim Roth are sitting out in the dark streets somewhere. Actually, this whole movie is melodrama. Talk about over the top. As for Tim Roth, he plays the same character he always plays, with the addition of a few epileptic fits. Three stars for this movie is almost generous. It's biggest crime though is that underneath all the cliche and contorted acting, it's more or less a boring movie.. and beware - it just keeps going on and on. It's hard to beleive some reviewers here call this "a thinking man's" drama. I've seen better made for TV movies.

i definitely loved this particular movie. It's so different and so unexpected that i'm gonna watch it again and probably buy it.