Deceiver

Murder mystery stories are very difficult to do since you've got to try to keep the audience guessing till the very end when the killer is revealed. But to many times the story falls apart and the solution to the mystery is seen to soon and the audience loses interest in the film. Even with the great talents of Tim Roth, Renee Zellweger, Rosanna Arquette, Chris Penn and Michael Rooker, this story is laid out on the table so much that its hard not to see what's coming before the characters do.
When the brutal murder of a young stripper/prostitute yields only one suspect, a game of cat and mouse ensues between the upper society suspect and the detectives by way of the polygraph examination. The acting throughout the movie is very well done, the characters aren't too over the top and as the story moves along the personalities of the characters seem believable. The biggest aspect that drags down this film is the use of flashback sequences to tell the majority of the story; through most of these sequences the story becomes disjointed and hard to follow. So much of the mystery part of the tale is given away and before you know it you've figured out the solution and there is still a half hour of the movie to go.
There is nothing wrong with the acting or directing in this movie, I think the lay out of the story is a little over played and that's what truly causes it to fall apart. If you're a Tim Roth fan this movie is worth watching, since his performance far out shines the other actors involved. However it isn't a movie to see if your looking for a mystery that will make you think, and enjoy yourself while your matching wits with the characters on the screen.