At first glance, Atom Egoyans latest effort, Where the Truth Lies, might seem like an anomaly for him well-known actors, high production values, noirish overtones but if studied closely, it features many of the filmmakers trademark themes: intimacy, identity, effects of media, loss of innocence, etc. The film begins in the early 1970s with Karen OConnor (a miscast Alison Lohman), a young, ambitious journalist whos investigating the truth behind the breakup of high-profile comedy duo Vince Collins (Colin Firth) and Lanny Morris (a superb Kevin Bacon) clearly modeled after Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis which occured two decades earlier. Her goal is not only to write a book, but to also satisfy a personal quest. The duo's fallout transpired after the body of a beautiful blonde was found in a bathtub of their hotel suite, even though they werent criminally charged. What follows is a whirlwind of narrative events from multiple point-of-views (an Egoyan specialty) featuring Scorsesian set-pieces and a Lynchian ambiance. All along, however, the filmmaker expertly mines the duality of his characters and the cultural milieu they live in. Still, if one wasnt sure about the terrain, then they wouldnt be lost after Egoyan turns up the volume on Jefferson Airplanes "White Rabbit" as a girl donning an "Alice in Wonderland" costume mysteriously appears from behind the curtain (echoes of Mia Kirshner gyrating to Leonard Cohens "Everybody Knows" in Exotica [1994]). (This also turns out to be the most blissfully perverse sequence in the film after the girl's face eventually pops up from underneath another "Alice"; although, Egoyan couldve spared us from the vaginal fluids that came with it.) Where the Truth Lies is based on a Rupert Holmes novel of the name same, reportedly a work which is quite luridly fun. However, Egoyan, who wrote the screenplay himself, tries to maintain some moral and emotional groundwork during the later stages, but fails to do so in this case. Thats also the primary reason why the film ultimately feels less than the sum of its parts. But after his two previous over-directed efforts, Felicia's Journey (1999) and Ararat (2002), Where the Truth Lies is a step forward for Egoyan.