Lies We Tell

Gabriel Byrne stars in a missed opportunity set in the Muslim underworld of Yorkshire.

Talk about a missed opportunity. Here we have a drama shot in Yorkshire, financed by Bradford International Film Associates with an Anglo-Indian director at the helm and a reasonably impressive cast above the title. More significantly, Mitu Misra’s Lies We Tell is a thriller set in the heart of the Yorkshire Muslim community.

Harvey Keitel plays an American gangster whose loyal chauffer Donald (Gabriel Byrne) is left to clear up the former’s mess when matters come to a head. The interesting bit is that Donald has to eradicate all trace of his employer’s mistress, Amber (Sibylla Deen), who is the cousin and ex-wife of a notable Muslim in the area, who also happens to be a gangster.

Unfortunately, Gabriel Byrne is woefully miscast as the lowly, long-suffering dogsbody, while the Muslims are drawn as stereotypes. Nothing rings remotely true and the whole thing feels like an extended TV drama slicked up by an operatic score from the venerable Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner. Scenes in Bradford in which the white man is portrayed as the underdog are well shot, but the rest is so contrived as to beggar belief.

JAMES CAMERON-WILSON

Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Sibylla Deen, Mark Addy, Jan Uddin, Harvey Keitel, Reece Ritchie, Gina McKee, Nicholas Farrell, Emily Atack, Aqib Khan, Toyah Willcox.

Dir Mitu Misra, Pro Danny Gulliver, Andy McDermott and Malcolm Scott, Screenplay Ewen Glass and Andy McDermott, Ph Santosh Sivan, Pro Des Jane Levick, Ed Chris Gill, Music Zbigniew Preisner, Costumes Adam Howe.

Bradford International Film Associates-Miracle Communications.
109 mins. UK. 2017. Rel: 2 February 2018. Cert. 15.