The Baxter & Where the Truth Lies

The Baxter was Michael Showalter's baby, although the other Staters (Statists? or should I just use Stella, a name that was also used in the film, and made me giggle) involved all were fun to see. There was very little to the film, but what little there was was funny and mostly enjoyable. And who knew that Michelle Williams would be the one star of Dawson's Creek who'd continuously do good movies? Weird how that is. She's the second best thing in the film, after Peter Dinklage's hilarious turn as wedding planner Benson Hedges. It's just a shame that the film doesn't work nearly as well as it should, and I tend to think it has something to do with Michael Showalter's acting. He doesn't work as well as Michelle Williams (who's luminescent, quirkily awesome, and gorgeous) as the sort of goofy nerdy type, and seems uncomfortable in many scenes. Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux, as the rivals for Showalter's attention from the ladies, both have good scenes, and the ending gag was great, but it makes me wish that, maybe, Paul Rudd had starred in the film, rather than Showalter. He could have owned the role, rather than just be uncomfortable. And I want to defend Cincinnati. There is singing there. The College-Conservatory of Music is there, and they can sing quite well. So, yes, singing exists in Cincinnati.

Where the Truth Lies is somewhat famous for being an NC-17 film that wasn't able to be cut down to make it R-rated. It's crap, of course. I think I'm approaching the point where I think NC-17 shouldn't actually exist as a rating. If parents feel like their kids can handle R, what's the difference between that and this film? There isn't any, except for the brief scene with the... um... well, slick remnants of a bit of lesbian oral sex on the chin. I'm pretty sure that's what made it NC-17, not the thrusting, or the orgy scene, which wasn't particularly explicit. Stupid MPAA, just accept that sex isn't nearly as harmful as violence, and just make it far clearer what is in films that is so dangerous (Rated R for breasts, butts, and a little bit of bush, along with snappy lobsters and lots of drug use and some bad language). There was nothing more explicit than any R-rated film here, it was just what? The homosexual overtones? Oh, yeah, that's it. So damn frustrating. The film was well-made, as you'd expect an Atom Egoyan film to be, with strong acting from all three leads. Twisty, good film. Shame about the "NC-17" rating.