Review: Lie To Me Premieres On Fox

If we've learned nothing else from House, we've learned that everybody lies.

But new Fox sleuth Cal Lightman would counter that the truth is written all over your face -- and your body, your voice and your speech. Little physical "tells" that let an observant person read you like a best-selling page turner.

At least that's the premise of the intriguing new Fox drama Lie to Me, which premieres at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Fox. Oscar nominee Tim Roth stars as Cal, a character based in part on Dr. Paul Ekman, who has honed this craft of identifying body language as a way to ferret out the truth.

It's a required skill for all poker players, con artists and cops.

Roth has given Cal a compelling personality, a straightforward man who knows that while everyone lies, it's usually not for any dastardly reason. It's his job to discover not only the lie, but why the person lied.

That skill often gets him in trouble in his personal life. He knows when a friend has a straying husband or when his daughter's date wants more than a goodnight smooch. Cal is divorced, and he probably knew well in advance that things were not going well. As he tells students in a seminar, a marriage can withstand anger, but when you see a look of contempt on your spouse's face, the marriage is over.

He's blessed with a whip-smart teen daughter ably played by Kay Panabaker. For CSI fans, Panabaker also plays Catherine Willows daughter Lindsay, and is expected to make an appearance again on that show.

In the opener, Cal's daughter asks that dad not scrutinize her date using his considerable observational skills. He obliges her, but not in the way she would have liked. There's a nice playfulness between the characters -- we hope it's expanded in future episodes. Or at least that Panabaker will get a credit on the publicity material with her character's name.

The first episode centers on a sheltered high school boy accused of murdering his teacher. He's lying about something, but it may not be his involvement in the crime. Cal quickly sniffs out the truth.

There's always a mystery to be solved each week, but using Lightman as an independent contractor gets him out of the police procedural mode.

Lightman's company attracts a variety of clients, from the military investigating a rape to a private business asking why a building collapsed. In the third episode, the Lightman Group is hired by a billionaire who wants to know if his potential fiance really loves him or is just after his money.

The delightful Kelli Williams (The Practice) makes her return to network television as Lightman's right hand woman, Dr. Gillian Foster. She and Roth play well together, much better than the supporting character of Eli Loker (Brendan Hines), a colleague who has decided to practice radical honesty to prove that you can lead a fib-free existance. Perhaps, but it isn't pretty. Or very entertaining.

The character of Ria (Monica Raymund) is introduced in the first episode as a natural lie detector. Raymund's Ria brings a nice twist to the mix.

The show has all the elements needed to succeed: smart writing, quirky characters, talented actors and a premise that's familiar yet not quite overworked.

While Roth says he appreciates the expertise of Ekman in guiding the show, he told TV writers gathered last week at the Los Angeles winter TV press tour that working with Ekman can be a little unsettling.

"I really get freaked out sometimes when I'm around Paul," Roth says. "I said, 'I only said I'm going to the toilet,' you know. 'Well, I don't believe you. You betrayed the fact that you are completely piss-free at the moment.' It's an extraordinary feeling of nakedness."

And unlike other non-American actors including Hugh Laurie (House), Simon Baker (The Mentalist) and Damian Lewis (Life), the British actor won't discard his native accent.

"I don't know how Hugh Laurie does it. [With my character,] you have to be really light on your feet when you're doing him. And to have that added weight of trying to get the accent right would just be a waste of time," Roth says. "So it was a deal-breaker for me. I said 'No' and they said 'OK.'"

Works for us.


Source: film.com