Wednesday, February 11, 2009

TV: Review= Lie To Me

Tell me, are you watching Lie To Me for it's entertainment value ... or are you watching to try to become a better liar and a catcher of lies?

Intriguing isn't it. An entertaining sort-of cop/mystery show where you MIGHT just learn something! That it might help you cover up your own lies is the juicy part. Have you already stopped glancing to your left before you prevaricate? Are you keeping your hands firmly clasped in your lap as you prepare to tell the boss the whopper about being late/being unprepared/being uninformed?

Relax, it won't work. The odds are that the person you are working so hard to get away lying to, doesn't watch the FOX series, which will have its fourth episode this week. They didn't watch Angela's Eyes back in 2006 when it came out. And it was all about a human lie detector, complete with up-close work highlighting what area of the face the title character was reading to speculate on lying. So, the odds are, nobody's going to benefit all that much in this long-distance course on the Art of the Lie.

At least it didn't help me.

Back to Lie to Me. I'm enjoying it. I don't find Tim Roth all that mesmerizing. The kid from Psych and Simon Baker in The Mentalist are each less off-putting. But in a way, that makes Roth more entertaining. (I should mention Tony Shalhoub's portrayal of Adrian Monk, in the companion show to Psych, but his observational skills are more or less buried under his quirks, making it a different kind of show). Monica Raymund's exasperating tone when she asks any and all, "How to you work with that man?" strikes a chord. And that means Roth's doing a good job.

Raymund and Brendan Hines make good background players to Roth and his partner on the show, Kelli Williams, playing Dr. Gillian Foster. Williams works for me. She rarely plays stupid characters and her character on this show is smart and sassy. (With the exception of a hinted at blind spot regarding Foster's husband). I welcome Williams to the small screen any time she wants to.

Roth et al run a think tank that's solely focused on the detection of lies and truths from observing the mannerisms, facial tics and subtle physical cues that help observational lie detectors hunt out the truth. Thus far, the two shows I've seen, have been varied enough to keep me coming back for more.

At least that's what my fingers say. As to whether I'm telling you the truth, you can TRY to hook me up to a lie detector ... if you trust them.

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