it 's wednesday , march 27 , and a murder investigation is underway in charlotte , south carolina .
the crime : a young prostitute , elizabeth ( renee zellweger ) , has been brutally slain .
one half of her severed body was found in a bag at the train station .
the other half was discovered in a trunk at the harbor authority , miles away .
the police duo of braxton ( chris penn ) and kennesaw ( michael rooker ) are strapped for leads .
at the moment , they have only one possible suspect : wayland ( tim roth ) , a wealthy , unemployed genius who graduated summa cum laude from princeton and appears to be the least likely character to commit such a heinous act .
that 's the premise for deceiver , a new thriller from the pate brothers , jonas and josh , who made their mark on the film world two years ago at sundance with the movie the grave .
deceiver plays out like a mind game between the intellectually superior wayland and the two not- so - bright cops ( captions early in the proceedings
let us know that wayland 's iq is 151
; by contrast , kennesaw 's is 122 and braxton 's is 102 ) .
the setting is a police interrogation room where a lie detector test is about to be administered .
over three days , as wayland returns to answer more questions , the drama and tension among these three characters gradually escalates until , inevitably , it boils over .
other plot elements are thrown in for good measure .
wayland suffers from a peculiar kind of epilepsy that can , in stressful situations , render him virtually catatonic or extremely violent .
braxton , a compulsive gambler , is deep in debt to a local syndicate .
and kennesaw is haunted by a dark , abusive side that delights in terrorizing women , especially his wife ( rosanna arquette ) , whom he suspects of being unfaithful .
the foibles and failings of these three are brought into the open as the mystery around elizabeth 's death deepens and it becomes unclear who has the upper hand :
the suspect or his questioners .
deceiver , which mostly transpires in a dimly - lit room and involves a lot of smart dialogue , has the feel of a david mamet play : edgy , claustrophobic , and tense .
the atmosphere is explosive , and some of pivotal moments of confrontation are riveting .
deceiver has the power to grab an audience .
unfortunately , in the end , it succumbs to the need to throw in one last , unexpected twist , and this is its undoing .
for , while this surprise will certainly shock most viewers , it also stretches our credulity too much , and raises more questions than it answers .
it 's only an effective wrap - up if you do n't think too carefully about its full implications .
of course , the film as a whole plays fast and loose with reality and logic .
police procedure is totally ignored and it 's almost impossible to accept that any criminal investigation would or could proceed in this manner .
but the real focus in deceiver is on character interaction , not plot details .
deceiver only occasionally gets out of the police station , and those instances occur primarily during flashbacks featuring the prostitute .
the pates employ a number of interesting techniques to present vignettes from elizabeth 's final days and hours .
the most intriguing of these is to use an unreliable narrator while underlining the discrepancies in his voice - over by visually showing what really happened .
moments like this are too effective to be dismissed as gimmicks .
the movie , obviously fashioned in the manner of classic film noir , drips atmosphere .
there are some fascinating stylistic touches ; for example , although the setting is contemporary , all of the telephones are old - fashioned , rotary models .
cinematographer bill butler is given an opportunity to use unconventional camera work to liven up deceiver 's look .
some of the things he tries ( mostly those that involve the contrast between light and shadow ) work exceptionally well , while others ( like any of several lazy susan shots ) seem more like unnecessary visual tricks .
as wayland , tim roth gives the film 's top performance , despite occasionally treading the tightrope between acting and overacting .
roth makes us believe that wayland is both as brilliant and as troubled as he 's supposed to be .
the other two leads , chris penn and michael rooker , are n't as effective .
both play their characters like familiar types .
penn 's performance is uninspired ; rooker 's lacks subtlety .
some of the best work is turned in by the supporting actors .
renee zellweger , in a role that 's miles away from her star - making turn in jerry maguire , brings a note of vulnerability and humanity to a part that could easily have become a caricature .
rosanna arquette is solid as kennesaw 's wife , and michael parks delivers several wonderful scenes as a psychiatrist who 's entrusted with evaluating wayland 's condition .
one of the best things about deceiver is that it never talks down to the audience .
plot points are n't hammered home , and , although the ending has its weaknesses , everything is n't spelled out in bold letters .
the pates give audience members credit for having brains , which is an increasingly rare characteristic for film makers .
occasionally gripping and never uninteresting , deceiver is a fine noir effort .
Output: P