An Unpretentious, but very funny, romantic comedy
Added 10/3/2005
"The Unbelievable Truth" is the first of two similar films directed by Hal Hartley (the other is "Trust") featuring many of the same actors and themes. "The Unbelevable Truth," however, is a screwball romantic comedy, while "Trust" is flat-out black humor. If you're planning to watch both, watch "The Unbelievable Truth" first.
As other reviewers have pointed out, the acting is low-key, the dialogue real--this is a film where the viewer revels in the dialogue. We spaced it out over two nights because we enjoyed the film so much.
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Excellent debut
Added 4/14/2002
Hal Hartley is a lover of the non-acting film approach and his dialogue is so witty that his movies could be stage plays. In this movie he introduces some of the motifs that he uses in his other movies as well. These things include 1)non-reacting dialogue and 2)regurgitated dialogue. All of these things: the non-acting, and the various dialogue are filtered through a deadpan sense of humor about the world. The story is about a girl who fears that the world may end by atomic warfare and is contemplating college, but doesn't want to go. She falls for a mysterious man who has just been released from prison for murder. He in fact murdered the father of one of her friends and that creates dramatic tension. Her father tries to bribe her into various things like: going to college and becoming a model, however, nothing works out the way that he would like it to because his daughter is smarter than he is and is always changing the deals. This film deals with serious issues in a lightweight and brainy way. It attempts to answer questions like: Are we really only as good as the deals we make and keep? and "Can a man wear an all black suit, not drink and still not be a priest?" I imagine that by reading those last two lines you have guessed that this movie is a bit weird, well you'd be right, so it's not wrong when I say that this film is not for everyone, or even most people. If you need to feel that a movie must contain highly dramatic and technical acting to sustain interest, then DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE because it doesn't have it. It's very similar to Richard Linklater's films in feeling and content. The dialogue is realistic and something you might hear at a college, or a coffeehouse, so if you don't want to watch a feature film full of that DON'T WATCH THIS. That's the ultimate rule for whether you should see this.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A cute and quirky, offbeat romantic comedy
Added 2/5/2002
What we have here is an indie romantic comedy, adorably done. Adrienne Shelly, who is petite and cute and pale as winter snow, stars as Audrey Hugo, a mechanic's daughter who has been accepted at Harvard (or so she says) but has no intention of going. She is obsessed with what she sees as the inevitability of nuclear war and attendant horrors, which she reads about aloud to herself and anyone who will listen.It is 1988 and this is Long Island, New York, although it looks a lot like Jersey to me. Certainly this is not the high rent district of Long Island. Her boyfriend is shallow and doesn't listen to her. Her father thinks she ought to go to the local community college which he notes is a whole lot cheaper than Harvard. She is bored with her senior year at high school and usually cuts. Enter tall, handsome, dressed all in black Robert Burke as Josh Hutton just released from prison. People who meet him ask, "Are you a priest?" He answers, "I'm a mechanic." And indeed he is an especially wondrous one who, of course, goes to work for Audrey's father, Vic Hugo (Chris Cooke) and becomes invaluable. Although it seems that Josh killed a girl and then the girl's father some years ago, we of course know from the title and from Josh's obviously sterling character that the "unbelievable truth" must be otherwise. And of course so does Audrey who is immediately smitten with him. But Josh is apparently practicing something like celibacy ("Are you a priest?") and rebuffs Audrey's advances, thereby initiating a whole slew of romantic misunderstandings wittily tossed about by director Hal Hartley along with some spiffy Mamet-like dialogue. Now enter a photographer who makes Audrey into a fashion model, first her feet, but eventually the entire petite torso. Physically she moves to New York City, but her heart is still with Josh at her dad's auto repair shop. She even carries Josh's wrench in her handbag, with which she threatens the photo guy when he tries to get too close.
What makes this film a delight in spite of all the obvious elements and the predictable complications is the original, independent and sparkling character of Audrey, the true blue integrity of Josh, some clever and funny dialogue, and a kind of warm puppy feel usually the signature property of a Nora Ephron film starring Meg Ryan.
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I Love Hal Hartley
Added 9/13/1999
Well you can't really explain Hal Hartley films. The plot is really not what the movie is about. This movie is about the promises you make with yourself and others. There is also something about the music and dialogue in this movie that makes it absolutely beautiful. Definitely watch it if you get the chance.
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Hartly and Shelly are great together
Added 12/20/1998
It is a great shame this video isn't available. I saw this movie after seeing Trust, also directed by Hartly and also staring Adrienne Shelly. I was surprised by the range both showed between the two films. If you get a chance to see this film, it's worth the time.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A guilty pleasure
Added 8/31/2009
I'm usually a pretty hard-line guy when it comes to movies. I'm the type who likes foreign films and classics and cerebral character dramas. The Unbelievable Truth is much lighter fare than that. Looking at this movie analytically, I can't exactly say it's such a great movie. But for whatever inexplicable reasons, I find it highly enjoyable.
This movie doesn't have the exciting plot. Most of the plot events are actually pretty mundane everyday slice-of-life events of ordinary people's lives. But there is something about the texture of this movie that is appealing in a unique sort of way. I just like being in the space of this movie.
It takes place in what appears to be a small town where everyone has known everyone else for a long time. It's not sweet or bucolic like the Andy Griffith Show. But people are connected in homey but believable way. Yet there's just enough of a touch of eccentricity to make it fresh and unusual. The two main characters are a cute teenage girl obsessed with nuclear war, and an ex-convict who is soft spoken and cerebral whom everyone in town describes as "like a priest or something." It has an appealing musical score that I can't get out of my head. This isn't a laugh-out-loud sort of comedy, but it does have a humorous tone.
Yet beneath all this, there is a subtext of developing ideas for the cerebrally adventurous. It contemplates the nature of money. The practice of making deals, of bartering one good for another and what that role that practice plays in life, is a recurring theme in the movie. Is life just a series of deals to gain assurances that certain things will be delivered? Or is there a point where one must accept that there is no certainty and have some faith?
No doubt, many who watch this movie will wonder where on earth I'm getting that. They'll watch it and see only a cute quirky inconsequential comdey. But for cerebral perceptive viewers, you'll find something here to chew on.
I always appreciate some info about sensitivity myself, so I'll give some here. Unfortunately, there is some excess profanity that for my taste was unnecessary and didn't match the tone of the film. Though there are a couple of mentions of sex, there are no sexual encounters at all in this movie. There is no violence.
I have to give this only 3 stars because much of it pretty lightweight stuff, and not the strongest plot in the world. This is not monumental drama. But in terms of pure enjoyment, I'd probably be more like a 4½ star movie for me. It's atypical for what I usually like.
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Extremely funny 80's the world is going to end kitsch!
Added 1/11/2007
The characters are bright and full and the dialogue is fresh and funny. Enjoy!
2 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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RIP Adrienne Shelly
Added 11/10/2006
I was saddened to hear of the tragic and senseless passing of the beautiful actress Adrienne Shelly. Nobody can watch Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" and not be struck by how talented and engaging Shelly comes across onscreen. At the time of the film's release it seemed as if she was a star in the making. However, she seemed more content to stick with modest indie films and sporadic appearances in acclaimed TV shows rather than become a fixture in vapid Hollywood product that would have increased her exposure. Eventually she moved behind the lens for what was shaping up to be a very interesting directorial career. Sadly, we will no longer be able to witness her growth as an artist, but as a small consolation we still have films like "The Unbelievable Truth" and "Trust" to remind us of her once luminous presence.
8 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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