Lie to Me: Season One – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Aug 30, 2009, 22:17 GMT

Tim Roth stars as Dr. Cal Lightman, a compelling new drama from the producers of 24, about the world’s leading deception expert who studies facial expressions and involuntary body language to expose the truth behind the lies. ...more

“Never let the facts get in the way of the truth.”

Do you like my reviews?  Well when you said yes, you did something that let me know you’re lying.  That’s Dr. Cal Lightman’s bread and butter and his company will come in and see if you’re telling the truth.  Sometimes they find themselves uncovering that the cases they’re brought in on have different truths hidden within.  

Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) is the founder of the Lightman Group. The group uses their skills in detecting micro-expressions and other techniques to tell if a person is lying.  Lightman’s skill may seem exciting, but his personal life is less than stellar. 

He’s got an ex-wife (Jennifer Beals) and a teenage daughter (Hayley McFarland) who they share custody of.  His ability to “read” people is good for his business but it has had adverse effects on relationships. 

His right hand woman is Dr. Gillian Foster (Kelli Williams) and Eli Loker (Brendan Hines) is another colleague.  Loker has taken a vow of radical honesty, which makes him seem like an eccentric character. 

The newest recruit is Ria Torres (Monica Raymund) who passed Lightman’s tests with flying colors and has a natural ability to read people.  The team is hired to ferret out the truth of their subjects but sometimes they discover that their subjects may be lying but that doesn’t always mean they’re guilty of the crimes they are accused of.  

Ever been in this situation, the wife asks you if her ass looks big in an article of clothing?  Tell her the truth and die or lie or say that it looks fine (and more that likely be accused of lying anyway).  Maybe the truth is that she doesn’t look fat in those jeans, but the question is loaded and a husband is bound to get in trouble however he answers.  Lie to Me is a fascinating show. 

We all want to know if we’re being lied to.  Lie to Me has a fascinating hook that Lightman’s crew uses science to decode all the ticks and gestures that show a person is telling a whopper.  I don’t know how much is real science and how much it television science but it is nonetheless fascinating.  If you’re going to hook anyone into a show you also have to have interesting characters as well as an interesting premise.

Lie to Me has both in spades.  Tim Roth is just as fascinating as the techniques he uses.  He seems a bit Sherlockian, but plays Lightman wonderfully.  His equal is Kelli Williams who seems friendlier than the abrasive Lightman, but who also plays her part wonderfully. 

Brendan Hines provides much of the comic relief with his vow of honesty (his first introduction to Torres isn’t hello, but I want to sleep with you).  Monica Raymund is the new person on the team and is short on book learning.  Her natural ability makes up for it, but she’s in conflict with Lightman as he’s spent years honing his technique whereas she comes by it naturally. 

The show takes some fascinating twists and turns.  More than likely they’re brought in on cases that find the subject lying, but they’re lying for reasons that we might not think of.  I’m hooked.  

Lie to Me is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.78:1) or am I lying?  Special features are presented in high definition and include the 26 minute “The Truth about Lies” making of, 19 minutes of deleted scenes, and a 2 minute trailer for Nobel Son.

Lie to Me is positively addicting and I’m not lying.  See I didn’t show any ticks or twitches.  I must be telling the truth.  I know that I’ll be eagerly expecting the second season.  

Lie to Me: Season One [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.