The Ultimate Lie (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

An interesting look at the possible consequences of adultery

[JonB · 7/10 · 8 January 1999]

The dean of a university (Malcolm, played by Michael Murphy) is cheating on his wife with call girls. Meanwhile his daughter (Clara, played by Kristin Davis) - who is a college drop-out - is a prostitute working with the same agency that her father gets his girls from. One evening she turns up at his hotel room door, and they find each other's secret out.

Unable to live with the fact that Malcolm is cheating on her mother, Clara tells her and is thrown out of the house. As she is about to go to her best-friend's, she tells her mother that she is a prostitute, and how she found out about Malcolm.

The rest of the film continues to tell how Malcolm's life falls apart, how Clara and her mother are re-united, and ends with them hugging - pretty mushy stuff.

The film is quite well made, and the issues brought up (the possible consequences of adultery, prostitution, etc.) are thought-provoking.

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 5/10 · 8 July 2005]

A made-for-television feature with quite an interesting premise, the content is however not enough to last for feature length. It is additionally burdened by cliché-reliant directing and maudlin use of music, which make the film both look and sound like the run-of-the-mill telepic that in fact it is. The shots often feel too close up too, and although it raises some thought-provoking ideas, they are dealt with in a hackneyed, tiresome manner. Still, if nothing else, it is worth seeing what Michael Murphy does with his role. He is quite a good actor and capable of a very human performance - it is a shame that in his later years he has been reduced to supporting roles in such mediocre stuff as this. It is not a bad film per se, but "mediocre" sure is an apt term.

Pretty standard Lifetime fodder

[Dan_Harkless · 18 September 1999]

Just caught the last hour or so of this -- pretty standard stuff. It took me a bit to recognize Blair Brown -- she sure has aged since her days (and nights) on "The Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd".

Is it just me or does Kristin Davis look like Heather Graham's long-lost brunette cousin (in a Laura Palmer - Maddy Ferguson kinda way)?