Telling Lies in America (1997)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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'll try not to repeat all of what the other reviewers have written already. Kevin Bacon is unbelievable in this role, he wears his part as a slick, sexy, supremely confident and laid-back DJ so well. He makes it impossible to imagine any other actor in this role.Every scene he appears in is to be savored. His voice is ideally suited for the broadcasts he makes. Seeing his easy charm and friendly manner is no wonder the young, innocent Kartchie idolized him. Visually, the movie is beautiful, rich, with a great soundtrack, excellent screenplay, in short, 100% enjoyment.Very nicely photographed, with very good sound direction.

If you read some of the reviews for movies like Jaws 4, Jaws 3, Krull, Jaws 2, Habitat, Jaws 4, Jaws Revenge you get the drift that there are some movies that fall into a category of 'bad'. However with movies like Jaws 4, even though the plot is a little bit silly and the notion of a lion-roaring acrobatic shark doesnt appeal to any(every)one, well thats fair enough. However there are some moments of redemption in any of these films that make them watchable.However some movies are actually very very very very very painful to watch. You know....movies like Air Force One...where every actor in it is out to make his impact on hollywood by showing us all that they can..............act?Nothing irks me more than watching movies where the two-bit actors try to outshine the main ones.........whom I generally have zero respect for anyway (actors who do this are Dean Stockwell, David Paymer, any of those idiots from 'friends' and a multitude of others). However there are some actors who are a pleasure to watch no matter what film they are in nor how bad their role is. Kevin Bacon is one of them.Brad Renfro in this film sounds like a retard with a severe speech impediment (DATS DA TROOD)

This was a nice little movie with a great performance by Kevin Bacon. The boy from the client was OK but not much depth. No nasty words and only minor sexual comments. Coming of age drama with great music and reasonable good performances. Worth watching.