Deceiver ★★ Liar 1997 (R)

Contrived psychological thriller starts out with the requisite dead prostitute (Zellwegger, in a questionable career move) and the rounding up of the usual suspects, settling on disturbed but brainy Princeton grad Way-land (indie film icon Roth). Wayland uses his superior I.Q. and penchant for mind games to send head detectives Kennesaw and Braxton (Rooker and Penn) into a tailspin of deceit and lies, turning the investigation around on the gritty cops. Flashy camera work only adds to the tangled mayhem. Fine performances from talented cast bring this up a notch. Twin directors Jonas and Joshua Pate's convoluted spin on a noirish murder mystery follows up their 1996 debut, “Grave.” 102m/C VHS, DVD . Renee Zellweger, Tim Roth, Christopher Penn, Michael Rooker, Ellen Burstyn, Rosanna Arquette; D: Jonas Pate, Josh Pate; W: Jonas Pate, Josh Pate; C: Bill Butler; M: Harry Gregson-Williams.

deceiver The common name for the fruit body of Laccaria laccata, which is notoriously variable in colour, size, and shape. Typically, it is reddish-brown with thick, well-spaced, flesh-coloured gills. The spore print is white. The base of the stipe bears short, white, woolly hairs. It is very common in woodland and heathland from summer to winter.