A really excellent addition to the US crime drama genre (Lie To Me)

Member Name: liamb71

Product:	Lie To Me
Date:	29/05/09 (4 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent script and original concept

Disadvantages: None

Just when you thought that there was no new angle possible in the already crowded world of US crime drama, along comes 'Lie to Me' with its own unique take on the genre. Tim Roth stars as a nutty professor type who is called in to investigate FBI cases, but his brief is always the same - he has to discover whether people are telling the truth simply by observing them and noting their body language, particularly their facial expressions and hand movements.

What I find especially good about this well-written series is that we are invited to be come amateur lie detectors ourselves - Roth's character explains how he has come to his conclusion, and we are then shown photographic instances of famous people displaying exactly the same body language, thus cementing our belief that what he is saying really is true rather than fiction. This is particularly amusing when you then watch other US crime drama series, which I often do, as you then find yourself watching the suspects being interviewed and trying to work out for yourself if they are telling the truth - and of course if you move away from television, you can use your new found knowledge to try and catch out colleagues, friends etc in untruths!! This means that you feel involved in a way that is sometimes lacking in other series - how many of us for instance are ever going to be in a situation where we have to carry out a post mortem on a dead body??

Roth does have a couple of female sidekicks with similarly impressive powers of detecting lies, but he is the undoubted star of the show. I probably never would have watched this programme if it hadn't been scheduled straight after 'Bones', and there may be some of you out there who are still unconvinced, but I would urge you to watch an episode, and suspect that you might like me end up hooked.

Summary: A human lie detector cracks FBI cases