Deceiver

A wealthy heir (Tim Roth) is hauled in for interrogation by two seasoned detectives. Hooked up to a polygraph, the superintelligent murder suspect plays cat and mouse with the two cops (Michael Rooker, Chris Penn). As events unfold, the cops themselves have a thing or two to hide, and the suspect has an alibi of sorts: temporal-lobe epilepsy and alcoholism with a special fondness for absinthe. The rich boy uses his knowledge of the cops' personal skeletons to gain the upper hand over them. This is a film that has an abundance of stylish fillips and modern-day noir touches, but also has a convoluted, confusing plot and a set of unlikable characters. Roth probably has the best turn as the filthy-rich narcissist who alternates between being slimy and sympathetic. Michael Rooker, on the other hand, tensely chews the scenery as the cop with the nastiest secret. All in all, Deceiver tries to be a good movie but is undercut by poor character development, bewildering loose ends, a flat script, and a "what the hell was that?" ending. However, if you can overlook the plot shortcomings, this is a slick mystery in a purely cinematic sense, filled with head-spinning camera work, expressionistic shot compositions and lighting, and jumpy editing. --Jerry Renshaw