The Lie Reviews

A film about accountability that repeatedly absolves its lead character of the need to have any.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4

It would take considerable skill on both sides of the camera to make this material go, and Leonard, a low-rent Owen Wilson on screen, can't handle the simplest two-shot behind the lens...

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Embedded in The Lie is a sharp look at the moral limbo of a complacent life, the self-defeat of committing by halves, the self-interest of false equivalencies - but only the shallowest attempts are made to chip its themes out.

Full Review | Original Score: 6.5/10

[A] thinly amusing tale with not-especially-appealing characters.

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The movie meanders like its dissatisfied, part-time pothead protagonist, not wisely but too well.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

Here's a film in which the actors create plausible people we would probably like. They're loose inside the skins of their characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

This mix of laughs and drama is a good one.

Full Review | Original Score: B+

It doesn't try too hard, but what "The Lie" is working at, in its unassuming, amusing way, is a mini-portrait of growing pains in a time of extended adolescence.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

An under-the-radar gem that may hit you in ways you never expected long after the credits roll.

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This is an assured directorial debut that goes beyond what we often see out of indie filmmakers.

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A well acted and uncommonly assured and engaging portrait of post-millennial and particularly male uncertainty.

Full Review | Original Score: B

The acting in The Lie -- including a nice bit by Mark Webber as a stoner pal who lectures Leonard on responsibility -- is good enough to almost overlook a so-so ending.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Leonard does a nice job of ramping up the comedy without sacrificing the believability of the world he's established; the movie is very funny at times but it's never outlandish.

Full Review | Original Score: B

Adaptation of an esteemed New Yorker story lightens the tone successfully while capturing the ugliness of a panic-inspired misstep.

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Comprising small, near-perfect scenes played out largely at dinner tables and on couches, "The Lie" wonders if it's possible to rewrite lives and remake choices.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Leonard plays Lonnie with unflattering commitment: you've gotta credit a fellow who plays feckless, selfish and dim so fully.

Full Review | Original Score: B

It's funny, touching and truthful and its total lack of cynicism is rare but very welcome.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

The Lie is a sturdy directorial debut from actor Joshua Leonard.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

The Lie's payoff strikes an unexpected, refreshingly open note that makes this slight little indie more resonant than its scale suggests.

Full Review | Original Score: B