Telling Lies in America (1997)

The greatest movie ever made..!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Slow to start, but gathering pace before the end, this is a coming-of-age drama with a few twists. It also stars Colista Flockhart in a role just before she became Ally McBeal.The story is based in part on Joe Eszterhas' autobiography, "Hollywood Animal" – the book is funny and insightful. I always remembered his description in the novel of arriving in America from Europe just after WW2 on an overcrowded ship. He was six years old, but the close proximity to hundreds of women ignited his fascination with them even at that early age.His way with words and imagination produced screenplays for some intriguing movies – "Flashdance", "Music Box" and "Betrayed". But later on his films went off – maybe it was the directors or too much interference from the front office, but does anyone rate "Showgirls", "Sliver" or "Jade" as great movies? "Telling Lies in America" although late in his oeuvre, is more of a return to form, but doesn't pack the punch of his best work.Set in the 1950's, Karchy Jonas (Brad Renfro) is a young Hungarian refugee with a lot happening in his life. He is not doing well at the Catholic school that his father has struggled to pay for, and feels an outsider. He has fallen for a girl, Diney Majeski (Colista Flockhart), where he works part-time, but almost ruins any chance with her through bad decisions.When he gets a job working for radio disc jockey, Billy Magic (Kevin Bacon), he not only falls under the influence of the edgy DJ, but also gets caught up in illegal dealings. All the while, his relationship with his father, Istvan, is a troubled one.If the movie has a problem it's that most of the characters are not all that appealing with the exception of Diney. Even Eszterhas' alter ego, Karchy, comes across as a bit whiny and somewhat of an opportunist, while Billy Magic gives Kevin Bacon the opportunity to deliver a deeply-flawed character in a succession of neon-coloured jackets. Karchy's father, Istvan (Maximillian Schell), is a depressive character buried under a thick accent.On another level, if you have read Esterhas' book it's fascinating to join the dots and discover where certain aspects of the story have come from. Some of Eszterhas' relationship with his father is explored here; the other half possibly comes to light in the brilliant "Music Box", although he claims revelations about his father's wartime experiences came to light after he had done the screenplay.There is no mention of that in "Telling Lies in America", and the final reconciliation between Karchy and his father may even be the ending the author wished he'd had in real life.Although "Telling Lies in America" recreates the era well, and has its moments, It isn't a film I feel like rushing back to.

I thought this movie was okay but not excellent It had the makings of excellence but didn't deliver mastery. 'Frustrating' is a word that comes to mind for my opinion of it.I liked its music, even its plot, & innocence of some of its characters. I liked too, the underlying moral dilemmas of a young man of sincere & genuine character struggling with the plight inflicted upon him & them in broader prospectives.But it has unimportant matters glossed over, without explanation or rationality, except for naivety for the gullible. Like the DJ Bacon character & his protégé (& others supposedly exacting this scenario in other cities) but so detached from the reality of their situations.LIES is the underlying motive of integrity in situations anything but far from black & white. So it could have been the title of a film disguising lies. But it was not guilty of that by truer assessment.So what about layers of LIES??? Are little white lies beyond a couple of persons, not surely to be distinguished from blatant & career or character destructive lies, layer upon layer, lawyer upon lawyer, judge upon judge, to be evaluated as lies??? So a movie that is 7 out of 10 is neither 5 or 9 out of 10!

"Lies..." tells of a Hungraian immigrant 1960 high school boy who falls in with a corrupt D.J. (Bacon) on payola and jeopardizes the possibility of U.S. citizenship for himself and his father. The film showcases good performances by Bacon and Renfro, delivers the usual "slice of life" stuff, doesn't breach realism so as to make the emotional "buy in" impossible, and even conjures up some lessons about the importance of telling the truth...and lying. After all, we're all liars, aren't we.

Telling Lies in America... where to begin? It has an interesting premise... and an interesting plot. Bacon was great as Billy Magic, but Brad Renfro REALLY wasn't convincing as an immigrant. Sorry Renfro fans, he wasn't -- unless he emigrated from North Carolina, which is highly unlikely. :)This movie kind of flirts with the dirty side of the music buisness, namely the radio-end, and how Karchy Jonas (Renfro) gets caught up in it. He wants it all -- the all American dream. Money, Popularity, and the girl. As for the girl, Calista Flockhart gave a very convincing role (bonus points for her reaction about the Spanish Fly!), and even though I am the largest Calista Flockhart fan, she seemed a bit.. old for Renfro. She looked good in the poultry store, and on the date, but other than that she did look in her late twenties -- a little old for high-schooler Renfro.And of course the movie wanted to make you fall asleep sometimes. It just became a bit too dull -- nothing very exciting happened. Although that blasted "Medium Rare" song sure does get stuck in your head. *grin*So I would only recommend this movie if you're bored and have nothing to do, or if you're a big Flockhart/Renfro or Kevin Bacon fan... oh yeah, Luke Wilson, too.