The are many truths about "Truth." Sean Paul Lockhart, despite what might be assumed from his porn past, is an amazing actor. However, despite his brilliant performance, he can’t save this film. It feels like someone poorly copy-and-pasted scenes from a romantic comedy and an M. Night Shyamalan boxed set.
Caleb (Lockheart) meets Jeremy (Rob Moretti) on a popular gay sex app. What begins as a romantic courtship quickly turns into bat-shit craziness. The story is crosscut between scenes of Caleb being interviewed in prison by Barbara (Blanche Baker) and flashbacks to his abusive mother (Suzanne Didonna). It quickly devolves into cheap shocks that seem utterly illogical and rob the characters of their likability.
Truthfully, the film seems like it wants to be "Primal Fear," but instead it ends up like a bad Lifetime movie. Lockhart is convincing as a sweet likable twink and a psychotic convict with a disturbed past. Moretti is also a decent actor, and they do have chemistry, but this writing and directing is slightly questionable.
The dialogue works, and there are some scenes that really work. Sadly, they work in a more lighthearted or funny way rather than the dark and sordid tone of a suspense thriller. So much of the film seems disjointed. A lot of the intentionally poignant or disturbing moments have a strange slapstick quality that makes them seem more camp or humorous, including the poor sound effect choices in certain scenes.
As lovely as it is, it seems like Lockhart’s blue star ass tattoo is dusted off to give the film sex appeal and credibility... to no avail. As mouth-watering as it may be, it cannot undo the absurdity of the plot. A young guy with secrets meets an older pederastic guy with secrets, and then hijinks ensue, and then more secrets are revealed. The characters aren’t particularly sympathetic.
The film also takes on a huge homophobic bent. Both characters have a lot of internalized homophobia and the word "faggot" is used to an uncomfortable level. What starts off as a sweet heartfelt atypical romance devolves into a revenge fantasy of two unlikable men. In the end, despite the occasional message to the contrary, there are no positive representations of gay men. Also, there’s no real exploration to the age-inappropriateness of the two leads, and how that might limit their relationship.
One saving grace is the complete originality of a great lady-folk music cover of Linkin Park’s "One Step Closer."
"Truth" avoids a lot of the trite tropes of gay films but, sadly, it seems to borrow every cliché from drama, thrillers and romantic comedies. If it weren’t for the off-beat plot development and unnecessary dependence on reveals, "Truth" might have been a good film. The saddest part of all is that Lockhart’s acting skills are wasted in this film, and it doesn’t give him a chance to shine and get into non-gay cinema.