ThiefHott Too much of everything

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

jcunningham-9 ..with celebrities such as Tim Roth, Renee Z, and Chris Penn...I have the answer. This movie was beyond horrible. The blatant anachronisms are never explained, the "twist" was anything but...and well, shoot (imdb wouldn't allow me to say spell out a different word..even when i tried to use alternative spelling-huh, what a family friendly site!), folks..save your dollar and/or time and don't bother. I'm also adding text here because my initial review was very brief--I attempted to just tell you'll that this movie stinks...but apparently I have to go on. and on. and on. so once again, don't see this movie. it stinks. it stinks.P.S. don't believe reviewers that tell you must be intelligent to "get" this movie. if you don't get it, it's because the movie failed miserably. period. period.

Newt Rox CAUTION ****SPOILERS************ STARTS WITH A SPOILER! **The staged death near the end was a bit implausible and Braxton's part was not completely explained. Seems the money he puts in the Lieutenant Kennesaw's drawer is planted to give the Lieutenant grief, but was Braxton in on it? Is the appearance of Kennesaw taking payments or bribes sufficient justice for a murderer? Especially when they had a videotape showing that Kennesaw knew the hooker and was sexually violent with her -- possibly enough to establish a solid case for homicide? So why not just have him arrested and forego the need for Wayland to go underground and lose his inheritance? Like IMDBer "Robertllr" asked, why was the staged Braxton "debt" to Mookie integral to the plot? Sure, it was a flexing by Wayland, but unnecessary. And why other than to feed one's own ego was this insidious game even played against the police, especially tormenting Kennesaw? Yes there were lots of implausibilities and possibly unexplained parts of the plots.Elisabeth was adorable and rose above the part and lines, upstaging Rosanna Arquette (Mrs. Kennesaw) who had a similar part but looked terrible in character. Shapely Elisabeth is pretty and portrayed the tenderness in her platonic bond with Wayland nicely.The shrink and Mookie are famous actors and their fairly minor parts were very well-played. Ellen Burstyn as Mookie, with that hair, looked like Cate Blanchett when she played Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."The film showed some anti-law enforcement leanings: a guy gets routinely manhandled by two cops in the background yet visible area at the station, just outside the interrogation room. The police in my city are much smarter and better-educated than this. The polygraph team is composed of a security guard that barely finished high school, and a knotted up, jealous, insecure tough, who are openly advertising they have, can and will manipulate the testing to try to convict Wayland, and brag about how poor lie detector results have locked men up for years. The most blatant incredibility is the cops' simplistic read on Wayland's answers: OK you have admitted to lies that aren't white lies so you must be a habitual, malicious liar. When he showed them he could trick the lie detector machine by picking a playing card, and causing it to malfunction when he lied and told the truth, they naturally would have suspended the test. And the cops' remarks that you can't outsmart the machine" was ludicrous and inconsistent, as polygraph tests are not determinant.I liked everything about else this film. It wasn't as involved as Usual Suspects, and the similarities were few. I disagree with Ebert about this being about cleverness for cleverness' sake, and the plot trumping the actors. But I can't hold a candle to Ebert.Roth received a British Oscar and has been nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Ebert says the plot upstaged the actors and that this as a film about actors rather than characters. It's interesting that he's the star of TV's "Lie to Me," in which he's Dr. Cal Lightman, an Expert in Lies and Liars. I liked the ending. What tipped it to me was the mortician with the shiner, though the overly-long camera shot on the face of the vaguely familiar ambulance-driver only sort of evoked a little suspicion.Got it this as my free Blockbuster "oldies" flicks. What a treasure!

merklekranz Loaded with fine actors, I expected much more from "Deceiver" than was delivered. The plot is extremely contrived and manipulative. The many flashbacks only add to the confusion. Believability flies out the window and with the ending becomes unbearable and downright ridiculous. I would strongly advise anyone who likes their movie plots to be based on something that is at least possible to avoid "Deceiver" because you will be very frustrated. Maybe I am just not hip enough to get it, but my suspicion is that many others were totally confused by the story line and especially by the ending. Blurring the line between reality and lies simply does not work because the entire movie made no sense. - MERK

mfsor Mediocre is what a five is. Noirish, certainly. But strains credulity and therefore didn't get me into it. Didn't feel a thing, believe a thing, care a thing. Sure, the idea that a person could be hauled in, and in fact the cop doing the lie detector test could be the killer is in itself plausible, but the way that the two cops played around with this guy and there's not lawyer for him that is too much of a stretch. Good moody cinematography as I said, and some excellent acting by Roth and the actor who played Kennesaw, but the plot is too unbelievable for this to have any meaning. And then at the end, to be alive again, what that would take, and for that matter what it would take for Roth to know everything he does about the cops, that's too much and causes loss of interest.