Customer Reviews

Unbelievable Truth [VHS]

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Hal Hartley is a lover of the non-acting film approach and his dialogue is so witty that his movies could be stage plays. In this movie he introduces some of the motifs that he uses in his other movies as well. These things include 1)non-reacting dialogue and 2)regurgitated dialogue. All of these things: the non-acting, and the various dialogue are filtered through a deadpan sense of humor about the world. The story is about a girl who fears that the world may end by atomic warfare and is contemplating college, but doesn't want to go. She falls for a mysterious man who has just been released from prison for murder. He in fact murdered the father of one of her friends and that creates dramatic tension. Her father tries to bribe her into various things like: going to college and becoming a model, however, nothing works out the way that he would like it to because his daughter is smarter than he is and is always changing the deals. This film deals with serious issues in a lightweight and brainy way. It attempts to answer questions like: Are we really only as good as the deals we make and keep? and "Can a man wear an all black suit, not drink and still not be a priest?" I imagine that by reading those last two lines you have guessed that this movie is a bit weird, well you'd be right, so it's not wrong when I say that this film is not for everyone, or even most people. If you need to feel that a movie must contain highly dramatic and technical acting to sustain interest, then DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE because it doesn't have it. It's very similar to Richard Linklater's films in feeling and content. The dialogue is realistic and something you might hear at a college, or a coffeehouse, so if you don't want to watch a feature film full of that DON'T WATCH THIS. That's the ultimate rule for whether you should see this.

It is a great shame this video isn't available. I saw this movie after seeing Trust, also directed by Hartly and also staring Adrienne Shelly. I was surprised by the range both showed between the two films. If you get a chance to see this film, it's worth the time.

"The Unbelievable Truth" is the first of two similar films directed by Hal Hartley (the other is "Trust") featuring many of the same actors and themes. "The Unbelevable Truth," however, is a screwball romantic comedy, while "Trust" is flat-out black humor. If you're planning to watch both, watch "The Unbelievable Truth" first.

As other reviewers have pointed out, the acting is low-key, the dialogue real--this is a film where the viewer revels in the dialogue. We spaced it out over two nights because we enjoyed the film so much.

Well you can't really explain Hal Hartley films. The plot is really not what the movie is about. This movie is about the promises you make with yourself and others. There is also something about the music and dialogue in this movie that makes it absolutely beautiful. Definitely watch it if you get the chance.

What we have here is an indie romantic comedy, adorably done. Adrienne Shelly, who is petite and cute and pale as winter snow, stars as Audrey Hugo, a mechanic's daughter who has been accepted at Harvard (or so she says) but has no intention of going. She is obsessed with what she sees as the inevitability of nuclear war and attendant horrors, which she reads about aloud to herself and anyone who will listen.

It is 1988 and this is Long Island, New York, although it looks a lot like Jersey to me. Certainly this is not the high rent district of Long Island. Her boyfriend is shallow and doesn't listen to her. Her father thinks she ought to go to the local community college which he notes is a whole lot cheaper than Harvard. She is bored with her senior year at high school and usually cuts.

Enter tall, handsome, dressed all in black Robert Burke as Josh Hutton just released from prison. People who meet him ask, "Are you a priest?" He answers, "I'm a mechanic." And indeed he is an especially wondrous one who, of course, goes to work for Audrey's father, Vic Hugo (Chris Cooke) and becomes invaluable. Although it seems that Josh killed a girl and then the girl's father some years ago, we of course know from the title and from Josh's obviously sterling character that the "unbelievable truth" must be otherwise. And of course so does Audrey who is immediately smitten with him. But Josh is apparently practicing something like celibacy ("Are you a priest?") and rebuffs Audrey's advances, thereby initiating a whole slew of romantic misunderstandings wittily tossed about by director Hal Hartley along with some spiffy Mamet-like dialogue.

Now enter a photographer who makes Audrey into a fashion model, first her feet, but eventually the entire petite torso. Physically she moves to New York City, but her heart is still with Josh at her dad's auto repair shop. She even carries Josh's wrench in her handbag, with which she threatens the photo guy when he tries to get too close.

What makes this film a delight in spite of all the obvious elements and the predictable complications is the original, independent and sparkling character of Audrey, the true blue integrity of Josh, some clever and funny dialogue, and a kind of warm puppy feel usually the signature property of a Nora Ephron film starring Meg Ryan.