MPAA: Kids Can’t Handle “Truth”
by Josh Grossberg
Sep 9, 2005, 10:30 AM PT
Two’s company but three’s definitely a crowd.
That’s the verdict of the Motion Picture Association of America, whose
Ratings and Classifications Board has upheld the dreaded _NC-17
rating_ (,1,17213,00.html) it
slapped on Canadian filmmaker _Atom Egoyan_
( es/0,127,31877,00.html) ‘s
new art-house drama, Where the Truth Lies, because it featured a
ménage à trois.
The movie, which stars _Kevin Bacon_
(,128,102,00.html) , _Colin
Firth_ (,128,537 0,00.html) ,
_Rachel Blanchard_
( o/0,128,38399,00.html) and
_Alison Lohman_
( ,128,71269,00.html) , makes
its North American debut next week at the _Toronto Film Festival_
(,1,16931,00.html) .
It follows a popular 1950s-era comedy duo (Bacon and Firth) whose
career is derailed after they engage in a night of debauchery,
including a threesome with a beautiful woman who turns up dead the
next day in their hotel suite.
After reviewing Truth last month, the MPAA’s Ratings and
Classifications Board gave the picture an NC-17, which means no one
under the age of 17 is allowed admission, citing “some explicit
sexuality” involving Bacon, Firthand Blanchard.
The decision prompted protests from independent distributor ThinkFilm,
which claimed the three-way was artfully choreographed by Egoyan and
is central to the movie’s mystery. The company also noted that the
rating severely hampered the flick’s commercial prospects, since many
exhibitors refuse to book NC-17-rated fare.
ThinkFilm appealed and on Wednesday the filmmaker and Blanchard went
beforea 10-member panel in Los Angeles to make their case. Egoyan
argued that he filmed the ménage in a sustained master shot and that
trimming it would be nearly impossible without losing the scene’s
intent, which anchors the storyline.
An NC-17 is an “unwarranted response given the story it’s telling and
the way it needed to be told,” Egoyan told the Associated Press. “We
couldn’t trim any more without destroying the heart of the movie.”
Blanchard added that she had no problem shedding her inhibitions,
since the scene was vital to the integrity of the drama being played
out.
“The film is basically about the power of celebrity and the abuse of
that power,” she told the wire service. “It sort of expands on how
abusing that power sexually has consequences. It’s a redeeming film
and it has a positive message.”
Unfortunately their arguments failed to make the cut. The appeals
board voted 6-4 to overturn the NC-17 rating and give it an R,
falling one vote short of the required two-thirds majority.
Despite the setback, Where the Truth Lies will still be released
uncut. Because ThinkFilm is not an MPAA signatory like the major
studios, it has the option of issuing the movie unrated, and,
according to chairman Robert Santos, that’s exactly what the company
intends to do.
That’s the same strategy the distributor recently employed with its
potty-mouthed documentary The Aristocrats, in which a who’s-who of
comedians riff on the same dirty joke. Nonetheless, ThinkFilm faces an
uphill battle at the box office, since many exhibitors outside major
cities typically shy away from screening unrated films, and media
outlets don’t like to advertise such fare.
Another problem possibly hindering profitability: ThinkFilms is
contractually required to deliver an R-rated version to Columbia
TriStar Home Video. No word yet whether the film will need to be
chopped for its DVD release.
Where The Truth Lies is set to open in New York and Los Angeles on
Oct. 14 before expanding one week later to whatever U.S. theaters
agree to book it. E! Entertainment Television, Inc.