Review of We Always Lie to Strangers (2013) by Timothy S — 15 Nov 2013

I saw this at the opening of the St. Louis International Film Festival, and can say without hesitation that it is the worst film I've ever seen at the Tivoli Theatre, and the worst film I've seen in my years of attending Festival screenings. It is a film without a thesis, a rambling mess, full of people with whom I have no desire to spend any time, set in a place where nobody is from, and where everybody is stuck. The director introduced it as "a love letter to Missouri", but that's like saying that Psycho is a love letter to the hospitality industry. The Missouri presented herein is a bleak place, to be sure. The film is intrusive upon its subjects, sharing moments in these people's lives that have nothing to do with anything, and are frankly none of our business (The mayor's mother is having a painful attack of some sort? Let's keep those cameras rolling and watch her go into the ambulance, privacy be damned. Nevermind that we don't let the audience know whether she was all right or not). It's an uncomfortable film to watch, with sequences that don't go anywhere, too much time dedicated to insufferable people and pointless activities (Will Grandpa butter his biscuit? Will the screaming child get fed before or after singing "Respect"? Whose pie will Al Roker look the least uncomfortable eating?), and not enough time dedicated to the Lennon family, who are by far the most watchable and tolerable people in the film. (Special mention: The Lennon Family performed live before the film and were very pleasant indeed.).

What a disappointing start to the Festival, a portrait of economic hardship and insular politics, masquerading as a "love letter to Missouri". Shameful.