The Lie (2011)

Seriously there is something technically wrong with this movie. It has the appearance of being recorded on a jerky cell phone. I don't mean obligatory shaky cam because that's all edgy and indie and like that. I mean straight up high latency data buffering problems. Plus I'm pretty sure no artificial lighting at all was used. Whatever was natural light (INDOORS) was what they used. Everything is army green and brown. The sound is smooth and syncs OK. Now to the story. A bunch of near middle aged stoners and slackers who wake up every day bemoaning their utter lack of responsibilities or sense. Sample line "His day job has become his....livelihood!" Well herp derp Jackson that's kinda what life is. Dude. I can only conclude that person who made this movie hates each and every one the characters.

Who wrote this inane character study of frustration, perplexing and otherwise absolute insanity.Feeling the frustration of the job he doesn't want to be in, a guy with a beautiful wife and the most adorable baby concocts a story that the child is in the hospital and later dies; this will get him out of going to work.You can just imagine the reaction of his wife when she finds this out. You can't just fathom how quickly she changes her ways in accepting him back.Jane Adams briefly appears as a pill pusher-or in this case, one who gets our hero some medical Mary Jane. The writer needed the latter for making this absolute junk.

Basically, this movie is about a man (and his wife) having a pre-mid-life crisis that starts and ends in the span of a week.I heard about this movie and checked its rating on here (which, at the time of this writing, was 4.8.) Generally when things are that low I give them a pass, but I watched the trailer and was strangely compelled to try it anyway. I enjoy indie movies as whole. I find they are all quite character driven, usually dialogue heavy, prone to closeups and no-frills in most departments. I feel like this movie is a pretty perfect example of that and wonder if (despite the written reviews) those people that simply gave it a score without a review are judging it harshly in comparison to larger budget dramas? If you're looking for action or twists, this is definitely not the movie for you! But, if you enjoy observing characters and getting into their heads, this is a pretty good movie for that. Not great, but good! Also very well rounded.The main actor, Joshua Leonard (also the director) was in another recent indie movie I saw called Higher Ground. That movie received a score of 6.8 on here (again, at this time) yet I actually found this movie much more compelling and watchable than that one and enjoyed it more as a whole.The actors in this movie are fantastic. Whether or not you enjoy the plot, you cannot deny that the actors (specifically the main two) do amazing work with their expressions conveying internal thoughts. Some of the scenery/cinematography is quite lovely as well.The main theme may be a bit cringe-worthy to some (not me) and heavyish at times, but ultimately this is not a depressing movie as a whole. The trailer gives a very good outline of the movie, but leaves the ending out.

As somebody to whom honesty is extremely important, I found the main part of this film incredibly uncomfortable to watch. But if anything it has given me pity for liars rather than contempt because, as this goes some way to illustrate, the disintegration of the soul is at stake.As well as the morality and consequences of lying, it also questions how faithful we are to our principles in the face of stark reality.On a lighter note, it's hardly worth posting as a goof, but why would anybody use a baby monitor when the baby is asleep in a tent just a few yards away? And there is no IMDb credit for Violet Long who portrays Xana - without whom there would be no story and little to feel good about!