MEN LIE

Perhaps the best way to view MEN LIE is as a response to the recent “Dream Lover” (18th CIFF, 1994), which proposed that women are ice-blooded predators, devoid of conscience, infinitely skilled in sexual deceit and malice. Well, now its payback time. And you know what they say: Paybacks are a…bastard. And so it is with our antihero Scott, a handsome, charming, utterly untrustworthy young rake who compulsively cheats on Jill, his faithful girlfriend of two years. Even right after a let's-keep-this-a-secret-just-between-us marriage proposal to her, Scott scours singles bars and tennis courts for fresh meat and further conquests, cheered on by his mentor uncle and male partners-in-crime. Will Jill ever catch on? Be assured that barbs will be flung and sticks sharpened at both ends in this memorably caustic comedy, shot only in 11 days by writer/director/gender traitor John Andrew Gallagher, with a gallery of guest stars commenting on the saga of Scott and Jill like a squabbling co-ed Greek chorus (or auidence banshees in a particularly vicious Ricki Lake show). Oh yes, this one gets revenge for “Disclosure” as well.