Where The Truth Lies Page #8

Synopsis: Karen O'Connor tells the story about two distinct but related periods in her life. In 1972, she is an up-and-coming Los Angeles based journalist who has been given the lucrative assignment of convincing once successful comic Vince Collins, who is at the tail end of his career, to allow her to ghost write his memoirs. Most specifically, she has the task from her publishers of discovering the reason behind two issues in Vince's life from 1957: why he and his former on-stage partner Lanny Morris, who is still active and well known within the entertainment business, broke up their professional partnership shortly after they hosted a successful thirty-nine hour telethon for polio research in Miami, there not having been any indication of problems between the two before that; and how did the dead body of Maureen O'Flaherty end up in the water filled bathtub in Vince and Lanny's New Jersey hotel suite, the opening of that New Jersey hotel owned by mobster Sally Sanmarco which was Lanny and Vi
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): Atom Egoyan
  2 wins & 10 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.5
Metacritic:
47
R
Year:
2005
107 min
267 Views


to know that this next chapter...

... is to be read

after Vince and my death...

... and is only to be used under

the most extreme of circumstances.

We knew we wanted to make

an early night of it...

... with the telethon starting the next

day, so Vince suggested we dine in...

... so Maureen could do

the interview for her campus paper.

This is a gift for us

from the audience...

...from the people,

the people that are out there.

Sooner or later you gotta say,

"We wanna give something back."

I think that's really important.

Not many people would take

the time out to do that. Thank you.

She actually hid her tape recorder

in the room-service cart...

... because she didn't want

the hotel to find out.

We finished the interview

and then asked her to stay.

To help us get into the mood,

I did a Tuinal...

... then she did one...

... and Vince, he did two,

because he was always doing two.

We got into the second of the

three bottles of Mot we'd ordered.

We thought it would be better to keep

the action to neutral territory.

God...

... she was beautiful.

I chain-locked the front door

to the living room...

... to make sure that housekeeping,

eager to turn down our beds...

... didn't walk in on an employee

having a mnage trois...

... with the hotel's headliners.

Then I went to chain-lock

the door to Vince's room.

I took a quick shower,

I put on my robe...

... and brought a robe for Maureen,

in case she felt a little bashful.

So much for bashful.

I threw the robe on the bed

and moved into the room...

... half-worried that they would

finish without me.

I've always preferred

the missionary position.

I have to see their faces,

look into their eyes.

Unless they're acting, and I'd like

to think I can tell the difference...

... there comes that moment...

... when, if you're looking...

... if you're really looking...

... you'll see exactly who she is.

This was different.

It was like

she saw exactly who I was.

Watch it there, compadre.

It's a little hard to tell who's who,

under the circumstances.

I'm the one that's more than

a little hard, you dumb f***ing limey.

Well, I'm... I'm the one with a foreskin.

Don't you forget that.

Watch it. You got the end zone

there, Vince.

- Come on, come on. F***.

- You're gonna like it.

It's like from another planet

when you come.

- Get the f*** off me.

- I'd never hurt you.

- I'd never hurt you.

- Get the f*** off me!

- No, trust me. It's like double the sex...

- Get the f*** off me!

We don't f***, Vince!

We're buddies, we're pals,

we're partners, we're a duo.

We love each other,

but we don't f***!

We're f***ing stars!

- We can travel together.

- Okay.

We can hang out together, we can live

together, but we can't be queers!

It's not funny!

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

About?

About your nose.

It's not broken, is it?

It's how I am.

Guess the question is,

who's gonna pay me?

This surprised me.

The girl was not a hooker.

My wallet was on top of my robe.

I took out some money.

I don't remember how much.

I don't think so.

That's more than you would

make in a month of tips.

I'm not looking for a tip.

What the hell are you saying?

Honey, I'm in my last year

of college.

This is a summer job.

I wanna write.

I wanna be a journalist.

So I could either

use this information...

...or I could use a lot of money.

I promise you

this will only cost you once.

I'm so tired, I don't even think

I'm going home.

I think it's the Tuinals.

Hey, Lanny, don't take it personally.

You were a great lover.

You have got the cutest little butt.

I guess Vince thinks so too.

Night, Lanny.

I would never see her alive again.

I put a "Do Not Disturb" sign

on my door...

... fastened the chain lock,

in case the maid didn't read.

I left a wake-up call for 8...

... and went to sleep

knowing that a telethon...

... was the least of the ordeals I was

going to have to face in the morning.

The Tuinals had really

conked me out...

... and I slept through

my wake-up call that morning.

The operator had called Reuben

down the hall...

... to see if he could wake me...

... but he couldn't get in because

we had chain-locked all the doors.

Reuben!

I yelled for Reuben to wake up Vince

while I worked on Maureen...

... trying to make myself believe

that she was still sleeping.

F***.

No, no. F***.

The autopsy revealed the drugs

and alcohol in her body...

... but I knew

it wasn't enough to kill her.

All three doors to the suite...

... were chain-locked from the inside

when I found her.

I hadn't touched her.

That's how I know that my former

partner and friend, Vince Collins...

... murdered Maureen O'Flaherty.

You must have guessed by now

that Vince and I had found a way...

... to relocate Maureen's body

to New Jersey.

This is the one criminal act

the both of us committed...

... but we were in a panic and

needed to create an ironclad alibi.

The crates were delivered

to our room.

The publicist had opened the crates

for a photo op.

But the official story became...

... that she found Maureen's

overdosed body in the tub.

A police officer called Scaglia

was there to witness the whole thing.

Live, until they drop dead...

During the telethon...

... I kept telling myself that I could

forgive Vince for two reasons.

First of all, I don't think he could

have known what he was doing.

He was completely out of it,

even more than usual.

The second is that he was terrified...

... that this incident would become

public knowledge.

In those days, the slightest hint

that he could swing both ways...

... would destroy his

show-business career in an instant.

As it was, it was only to destroy us.

We completed the telethon...

... but we both knew

we were finished.

The marriage...

... was over.

There was a moment

in the middle of the telethon...

... where I actually broke down.

I just couldn't control myself.

I remember I mumbled something...

... to a little girl who was recounting

her experiences with the disease.

I don't remember what I said...

... but I do remember

feeling worthless.

Everyone thought that my tears

were for her.

It made for a great picture

in the papers the next day.

Mr. Morris will see you now.

I expected to see you

at Vince's funeral.

Kind of heartless of you not to

show up, don't you think, Karen?

Considering you're probably

the one that...

...drove him to it.

I won't answer that.

So don't.

So get the f*** out of my office.

Lanny, I have interview material with

Vince up until the moment he met you.

It would be great if this...

...warm, funny side of Vince

could reach the public.

And what the f*** do you know

about Vince's warm and funny side?

What about the warm and funny fact

that he killed himself?

- Why would he do that?

- I don't know.

That's the answer I'm giving you...

...and anyone else that asks.

- "I don't know."

- But you do know, don't you, Lanny?

Whatever I know, sweetheart...

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Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan, CC is a Canadian director, writer, producer and former actor. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica, a film set primarily in and around the fictional Exotica strip club. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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