True Deception - review

Stephen Elliot is riding high after the publication of his memoir depicting his childhood at the hands of an abusive father. But when his father makes an appearance at a reading and claims everything that has been written is a lie, Stephen’s career and credibility lie in tatters. 

Due to be submitting another book to his editor, Stephen suffers writers block and retreats into his own world of drugs and bondage as he deals with flashbacks of what he believes happened when he was younger.

As the trial of a man accused of murdering his wife and mother of his children starts, Stephen asks a lawyer friend if he can get him into the courtroom in an attempt to write a book on the subject. Intrigued by the similarities of poor parenting between Haans Reiser and Stephen’s father, Stephen believes this is his way to make a comeback.

After meeting while both covering the trial, Stephen begins to spend time with Times reporter Lana who along with him shares secrets of abuse during her childhood and stands by him when the doubts begin to surface about his childhood. But while Stephen deals with a new and intense relationship as well as spending time haunted by his own childhood and dealing with the reappearance of his father, his ability to hold himself together comes into question as he tries to start afresh with his father while also continuing to take drugs.

Whoever wrote the blurb on the back of this DVD deserves a medal as they made it sound more intriguing and worth watching than it actually was. Despite the premise of the movie being writing and producing a book, most of the scenes were either flashbacks or involved taking drugs or having sex.

The murder trial as a sub plot was almost non-existent and seemed a waste of an actor such as Christian Slater when the main plot was about James Franco’s character’s childhood and skewed memory following years of drug abuse.

Although this movie was based on a book and true story, I didn’t feel it had the impact it could have done and ultimately felt empty after watching it. I wouldn’t recommend it and to be honest, the DVD will be going straight into my car boot sale stock ready for my next sale.