MovieChat Forums > True Lies (1994) Discussion > interesting title.

interesting title.

posted 10 years ago by nishivijay
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I have to admit, when i first saw this movie as a teen i really really hated it. it was just so dumb. but other folks were checking it out on tv awhile ago while i was in the room and it was hilarious. i couldn't stop laughing for like the fifteen minutes it was on. i got to check it out again but this time when i'm expecting 'dumb' like i'm in for 'dude where's my car' (great flick) instead of running man.

but it's not actually a dumb movie. it's stylistically dumb but conceptually i really love this concept.

True Lies: a woman is compelled to cheat on her husband with a man that is lying... but the man he's pretending to be is the man her husband actually is, but is hiding. True Lies. It's kind of wierd because the man she's longing for her husband is just pretending not to be there...

i was expecting schwarzenegger and i felt i got arnold and arnold is hilarious, i couldn't have a problem with the guy unless i was expecting something else. but conceptually it is a smart flick and about as smart as the title sounds.

yeah i know there are two arnolds in the movie but the movie is easier to like when i walk in expecting the second arnold... the first guy he's in there conceptually but it's hard to remember that.

[–] nishivijay 10 years ago

So I saw this movie yesterday. It's better than I remember, let's say 7/10.

Regarding the two arnolds, i wouldn't say that it's really a T arnold movie. Arnold S holds his own, is in more scenes and has great comedic timing himself. He knows how to pause to make the joke work and that's not easy. But it's just so good to see the other arnold in something. Cuz he's real famous, probably out of the 300 million people in america 200 million at least know who he is but he's just not utilized in movies that much. The way he is he's great at banter and would probably do good on the radio... he's one of those guys that can talk about nothing and make it good, not one of those guys that make you wonder about the end of the world and pollute you for ten % information you might want to know...

he seems like he would need other people to play off of though because he's very good and very funny but it's shallow humor so it's hard to make a cohesive movie with him as the lead rather than a team player... i mean really, if the guy's strength is making nothing good, it's impressive and has its place and i want more, but not as a lead role but there can be no cohesion or vision if banter was the driving force behind the production... with a strong team though he is great comedic humor...

but the real star in my opinion is jaime lee curtis... she is never going to win best actress making a movie like this but she probably gave as good as performance as actress of the year for what this movie is... because she's playing strong but vulnerable and she's not type cast in that role... it's so hard to convey all that and still hold your own from a humorous perspective with such a subtlety... again you're not going to win best actress making a movie like this but i just don't see this level of acting skill in a movie like this and it counts or helps... her performance is a really unusual and special thing.

tia carrere was good, so was that car salesman, everyone was, but you don't see someone give a nuanced performance in a movie like this the way curtis did and it helps...