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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Joe Eszterhas (formulaic screenwriter of many overpaid projects, most infamously Basic Instinct and Showgirls) somewhat redeems himself with this semi-autobiographical story. His mouthpiece is Karchy Jonas (Brad Renfro), a Hungarian-born immigrant (like Eszterhas himself) growing up in Cleveland in 1960. His pop (Maximilian Schell) works hard to send Karchy to an expensive high school, where Karchy is ostracized by the rich kids and labors to find acceptance. Into town walks itinerant rock DJ Billy Magic (Kevin Bacon), the quintessence of cool with a dark charm. Magic needs a teen to run errands for him (mostly carrying payola envelopes), so he hosts a 'High School Hall of Fame' contest to help him find an assistant. Karchy, who idolizes Magic, wins the contest by forging signatures of his classmates on postcards. Magic knows of Karchy's deception and is intrigues by it, as that is the kind of dishonesty he's looking for in his assistant. Karchy's lying grows into a major character trait, forcing the kid into many difficult social situations, not the least of which involves government officials investigating the slippery Magic for payola and threatening to jeopardize Karchy's family's citizenship status if he doesn't cooperate. Although no less a formula plot than other Eszterhas stuff, this one's lifted a bit by the director's personal connection to the story and by a great, charismatic performance by Kevin Bacon. Much more could be written about the connection between lying and storytelling, and fending for oneself in the mendacious jungles of Hollywood, but suffice it to say that Karchy eventually grows up to write Showgirls. --Jim Gay
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Boring, boring, boring!
Perhaps I'm just reacting to how old this is, but I found it to be boring. Yet I've watch others made in that time and they are still enjoyable and very interesting. I couldn't get into this one at all and felt that I was about three or four steps ahead of the plot all the way along.
Rating:  - OK, 4 1/2 stars! :)
Two words: GREAT MOVIE! Both Kevin Bacon and Brad Renfro (who just became my new favorite actor, I think!) were excelent, and the story is wonderful. Nice to see Calista Flockheart looking relatively normal, and not rail-thin. I really liked the part Brad goes to Calista when his whole world seems to be crashing down around him. Also, when the one woman said that he was "gentle." Very sweet moment. If you haven't already, SEE THIS MOVIE! The only reason I saw it was because Jonathan Rhys Meyers was ... Read More
Rating:  - The immigrant experience in America is updated...
from a surprising source! Joe Esterhaz, not a particular favorite of mine, shines in the telling of his autobiographical "coming of age" story as a teenage immigrant in the early 60's. Much has been made of the immigrant experience in the earlier part of the century, but this film gives us insight into what it was like for Europeans to be transported to America's "golden age".
Maximillian Schell is back on the screen, and welcome as the father of Esterhaz' alter-ego, Karchy Jonas. He is ... Read More
Rating: - Lyrical Remembrance
When he wasn't writing trashy, empty thrillers (Basic Instinct, Jade, Sliver), Joe Eszterhaz must have been reminiscing about his childhood, modulating what would eventually become Telling Lies In America, a great, tender, beautifully rendered film. Set in the early 1960s Cleveland Ohio, it is the story of Karchy Jonas (Brad Renfro), a 17-year-old son of a Hungarian mill worker (Maximilian Schell) who had been a PHD in law in the old country. Something, Karchy never fails to mention to all the authority ... Read More
Rating: - An Incredible Movie That was Snubbed by Oscar
This is the kind of film that has those moments of depth and power that make one wish to watch the film again and again. The cast is magnifacent. In my opinion it is the incredibly talented Brad Renfro that really carries the film. Kevin Bacon has received a lot of deserving praise, but it is Renfro who steals many a scene. He was 14 or 15 when he made this film, but his character is 17. He gives a very mature performance from the opening to the end's moving and inspiring freeze frame shot. Another ... Read More
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