One of the best lines to come from the show. I love films such as Memento, Sixth Sense, The Skeleton Key, The Usual Suspects,The Others, Psycho, Fight Club, even Devil's Advocate, and several other films with the "technique" used here. The difference between those films and this one? The Whole Truth is lying to the audience.
For me, Mike refusing to talk was a dead giveaway that his mother knew something she wasn't saying. Watch enough movies and there are telltale signs. Why would a mother do this to her son? WHY? An affair is not a reason. Why would Keanu's character want him to talk so badly knowing what he could say? WHY? Who could guarantee any outcome? It's absolutely nuts that Mike would allow his mother to lie on him like this. At no point did it seem like they were aiming for a mistrial. Why would the kid shut down and refrain from speaking but have so many witnesses say they heard him say a variation of he did it? Not even hearsay that could be discarded. Did he and his SPOILERS-------co-conspirators think his age would protect him?
Keanu and Renee had zero chemistry. RZ being Loretta made it a safe assumption that the movie would have something develop between them, but even a little bit of heat between the actors might have made the lengths they went through believable. There are no signs of the intensity of the affair, the length of the affair, how the affair started. Nothing. You mean to tell me in this smallish community nobody knew about this affair? The flashback scenes to the bbq cannot be trusted because every main character is lying.
With movies such as this, the audience should be able to rewatch and see all the pieces fall in place. How the characters' previous interactions shown in the film make the climax believable. Where are the scenes between Mike and his mother? What's their actual dynamic if she would do this to him?? It is absolutely absurd that this 17 yr old kid would do this. This movie doesn't even try to make this similar to how Lana Turner's daughter's killing of her stepfather went down. Lawyer or not, Mike showing up and spoiling it means that the murder was not seamless and mistakes were made. This movie wants us to believe that no signs of R except that watch were there.
Another problem is that this movie does not involve the investigation at all. No other fingerprints found in the bedroom? On the knife? No neighbors saw Ramsay's car? Or any car over time coming and going that wasn't Boone?
I enjoy a twist. I don't enjoy a lie. By the end, what about this movie could be believed? Ramsay was an unreliable narrator so having everything from his POV calls the entire script into question. Calls even the entire "what really happened" into question. I do not like when movies have people who are co-conspirators pretend in their interactions when no one else is around (ex. Ramsay and Loretta after the acquittal). They weren't being watched. We weren't meant to believe they could be heard by anyone else. It's so phony.
I won't cape for Boone bc who really knows, but it's clear everyone in this story benefited from portraying him in the most evil of lights. It was so lame when right before his life and freedom was decided, Mike asks his mother if she was actually abused. I'm sorry, what? I also just find it disgusting whenever r8pe is used so flippantly. He and his mom don't EVER discuss it and it allegedly had been happening since he was 12! He also admitted it was a lie. This is a messy movie.
Give it a pass and find another courtroom drama. Something with more intrigue and suspense. I eventually read the wiki to find out the climax while watching. This movie wants you to believe that nothing could go wrong in this very ambitious scheme when nothing onscreen seems that tight at all. When all parties are lying for their own interests.
What was the lesson here? A better ending would have been Ramsay realizing that he may have gotten away by he hasn't gotten by. We're supposed to believe Janelle would not still be curious and noticed Ramsay slipped up somehow? That Mike would not be stewing in resentment over this bc of the stigma? That Ramsay and Loretta would live happily every after? Will either of them ever feel the walls closing in? Seems to me that as a lawyer, Ramsay should know that cases get reopened and the actual killer could still be found. This would have been worth something if it were filmed like a Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode and gave the audience something to think about. What was the point of the narration if Ramsay was lying through it? Maybe The Whole Truth is a lazy play on words.
By the end of TUS, we knew Verbal/Soze was lying. By the climax of T6S, we realize that Cole was trying to get Malcolm to see the truth. I just really didn't like this and I blame having higher expectations. It's a quick watch because nothing is actually suspenseful and you won't find rewinding to see if you missed something important.
This seems like an easy money movie for Reeves, Zellweger, Belushi, and Lucas. A cheaper cast might have helped this movie make a profit. None of these characters feel real, and none of the roles had to be portrayed by such recognizable faces. What a disappointment.
For me, Mike refusing to talk was a dead giveaway that his mother knew something she wasn't saying. Watch enough movies and there are telltale signs. Why would a mother do this to her son? WHY? An affair is not a reason. Why would Keanu's character want him to talk so badly knowing what he could say? WHY? Who could guarantee any outcome? It's absolutely nuts that Mike would allow his mother to lie on him like this. At no point did it seem like they were aiming for a mistrial. Why would the kid shut down and refrain from speaking but have so many witnesses say they heard him say a variation of he did it? Not even hearsay that could be discarded. Did he and his SPOILERS-------co-conspirators think his age would protect him?
Keanu and Renee had zero chemistry. RZ being Loretta made it a safe assumption that the movie would have something develop between them, but even a little bit of heat between the actors might have made the lengths they went through believable. There are no signs of the intensity of the affair, the length of the affair, how the affair started. Nothing. You mean to tell me in this smallish community nobody knew about this affair? The flashback scenes to the bbq cannot be trusted because every main character is lying.
With movies such as this, the audience should be able to rewatch and see all the pieces fall in place. How the characters' previous interactions shown in the film make the climax believable. Where are the scenes between Mike and his mother? What's their actual dynamic if she would do this to him?? It is absolutely absurd that this 17 yr old kid would do this. This movie doesn't even try to make this similar to how Lana Turner's daughter's killing of her stepfather went down. Lawyer or not, Mike showing up and spoiling it means that the murder was not seamless and mistakes were made. This movie wants us to believe that no signs of R except that watch were there.
Another problem is that this movie does not involve the investigation at all. No other fingerprints found in the bedroom? On the knife? No neighbors saw Ramsay's car? Or any car over time coming and going that wasn't Boone?
I enjoy a twist. I don't enjoy a lie. By the end, what about this movie could be believed? Ramsay was an unreliable narrator so having everything from his POV calls the entire script into question. Calls even the entire "what really happened" into question. I do not like when movies have people who are co-conspirators pretend in their interactions when no one else is around (ex. Ramsay and Loretta after the acquittal). They weren't being watched. We weren't meant to believe they could be heard by anyone else. It's so phony.
I won't cape for Boone bc who really knows, but it's clear everyone in this story benefited from portraying him in the most evil of lights. It was so lame when right before his life and freedom was decided, Mike asks his mother if she was actually abused. I'm sorry, what? I also just find it disgusting whenever r8pe is used so flippantly. He and his mom don't EVER discuss it and it allegedly had been happening since he was 12! He also admitted it was a lie. This is a messy movie.
Give it a pass and find another courtroom drama. Something with more intrigue and suspense. I eventually read the wiki to find out the climax while watching. This movie wants you to believe that nothing could go wrong in this very ambitious scheme when nothing onscreen seems that tight at all. When all parties are lying for their own interests.
What was the lesson here? A better ending would have been Ramsay realizing that he may have gotten away by he hasn't gotten by. We're supposed to believe Janelle would not still be curious and noticed Ramsay slipped up somehow? That Mike would not be stewing in resentment over this bc of the stigma? That Ramsay and Loretta would live happily every after? Will either of them ever feel the walls closing in? Seems to me that as a lawyer, Ramsay should know that cases get reopened and the actual killer could still be found. This would have been worth something if it were filmed like a Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode and gave the audience something to think about. What was the point of the narration if Ramsay was lying through it? Maybe The Whole Truth is a lazy play on words.
By the end of TUS, we knew Verbal/Soze was lying. By the climax of T6S, we realize that Cole was trying to get Malcolm to see the truth. I just really didn't like this and I blame having higher expectations. It's a quick watch because nothing is actually suspenseful and you won't find rewinding to see if you missed something important.
This seems like an easy money movie for Reeves, Zellweger, Belushi, and Lucas. A cheaper cast might have helped this movie make a profit. None of these characters feel real, and none of the roles had to be portrayed by such recognizable faces. What a disappointment.
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