Mentiras en América

Telling Lies in America is a semi historically accurate examination of the late 50s/early 60s payola scandal told via a fictitious hustling DJ Billie Magic (Kevin Bacon) who comes to a Cleveland Top 40 radio station as his 4th station in 3 years. His tactic: hire a high school boy via a "Man of the School" competition won via the kid voted in the most mailed-in post cards. Billy rightly figures the winner usually forged most of the signatures and so would be the ideal young bag man for the payola cash envelopes.

Enter 17 year old Hungarian refugee Karchy Jonas (Brad Renfro) eager to graduate and be popular at an exclusive Catholic school that his law professor father Istvan Jonas (Maximillian Schell) struggles to afford via a working class job. Billy showers Karchy with high pay, fancy meals, offers of entry to Broadcasting School, lets him drive his fancy Cadillac convertible and hires a classy hooker to seduce him. Karchy falls for an older girl Diney (Calister Flockhart) at his previous work and gets a record contract via Billy for his black singer friend Amos (Damien Fletcher). When the police come investigating Billy, they threaten Karchy and his dad with being denied US citizenship if he doesn't implicate Billy in payola. You will have to watch the movie to see with how Karchy threads that needle.

The movie is carried by Bacon who knocks it out if the park as the epitome of a sleazy morally bankrupt DJ. Schell is solid as always. Renfro by then was a Hollywood darling at only 14 with all the right looks. Whilst he's a great actor, he's a bit out of place in this movie trying to play a high school senior and a Hungarian refugee supposedly only in the US for seven years. And having him dating Flockhart's character when Calista was almost 20 years older than Brad....hmmm, somewhat of a casting mismatch. Overall an OK movie with a cool ending.