During this casual conversation, Sam steals Gordon's memory-transcribing prototype, and proceeds to track down Gordon's patients.ĭuring this process, Sam lies to suspects and their family members about his own identity. So, Sam starts his own independent search for answers, starting with an impromptu meeting with Gordon's widow Carolyn ( Julia Ormond). He knows that any blemish on Gordon's legacy could negatively affect his company Cortex, represented in the film by selfish bureaucrat Lawton ('Lost' star Henry Ian Cusick), and nervous flunky Neil Frankel (Chad Krowchuk). Gordon's death has not been officially called a homicide, but that doesn't matter to Sam. We start from the premise that Sam Bloom is, like so many amateur detectives, a stranger observing a gallery of loosely-connected outsiders. It's a maddening experience, watching a film with a great kernel of an idea fail to grow into something equally impressive. Instead, we watch as Sam drifts from one encounter to the next without making a lasting impression.

There is nothing vicariously joyful about Sam's process of discovery, nor any memorably provocative moments of reflection from Gordon's patients, almost all of whom regret having gotten involved with him, and his futuristic memory. Unfortunately, co-writer/director Mark Palansky doesn't do enough with this fantastic main conceit. Better yet: as you watch footage recorded directly from users' brains, you assume the position of the person revisiting their past. The camera shows us what users observed in the past during major life events, like birthday parties, breathtaking trips to exotic locations, moments of physical intimacy with loved ones, or even screaming matches with those same loved ones.

Sam argent family of lies