To Tell The Truth I Lied...

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2006)

What makes this a great story is how clever the key storytelling elements are referenced in the narrative.
Huston is the 'writer', the most powerful man in the self contained L.A. microcosm. Having the power of a prime mover, he is 'dangerous', naturally. The 'child' of the writer is Dunaway, who represents the 'story' itself; the business about the diversion of L.A.'s drinking water and the dispossessed Okies (suggesting "The Grapes of Wrath") is the ruse that Towne wants us to follow. Our surrogate, Jack, is employed to guide us to the truth: the sidebar business would 'take only 5 minutes to explain'. What matters is the smart use of symbolism and the effect we feel as our expectations are eventually turned upside-down.
And as a movie, Polanski shows again he is one of the greats, here tipping his hat to Hitchcock. To invest yourself in this movie is to let it saturate you; see it and you'll understand; the realization of just how deeply this becomes embedded into us registers when the 'story' is taken away from us at the end.