loading loading...

The Unbelievable Truth Details

1989 DVD Certificate 15.gif
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 956 members

In Hal Hartley's first feature film, THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, Josh (Robert Burke), a criminal who has just been released from prison, returns home to Lindenhurst, Long Island. There he's hired as a mechanic by Vic Hugo (Christopher Cooke), the owner of a local garage. Through a mutual interest in George Washington, Josh falls in .. Read more

Starring Adrienne Shelly, Robert Burke, Christopher Cooke, Edie Falco
Director Hal Hartley
Genres Comedy

Sign up The Unbelievable Truth DVD

Buy From: £5.43

loading loading...

The Unbelievable Truth cover art

The Unbelievable Truth

In Hal Hartley's first feature film, THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, Josh (Robert Burke), a criminal who has just been released from prison, returns home to Lindenhurst, Long Island. There he's hired as a mechanic by Vic Hugo (Christopher Cooke), the owner of a local garage. Through a mutual interest in George Washington, Josh falls in love with Vic's daughter, Audry (Adrienne Shelly). However, their romance proves to be difficult due to Audry's possessive ex-boyfriend and the mystery surrounding Josh's past.
THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH effectively establishes Hartley's unique aesthetic, which is darkly humorous, oddly clever, and subtly meditative. Rather than merely hint at their thoughts, the characters in this film (and other Hartley films) tend to speak exactly what they're thinking, openly expressing things often left unsaid. A quirky take on the romantic comedy, this is the debut of a highly original American filmmaker.

Starring Adrienne Shelly, Robert Burke, Christopher Cooke, Edie Falco
Director Hal Hartley
Studio C'EST LA VIE
Run time DVD: 1 hr 26 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 15.gif
Genres Comedy
Language English
Released DVD: 29 Mar 2004
Production year: 1989
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (4) of The Unbelievable Truth

    View all
  • 3 stars out of 5

    Although it has echoes of a popular soap opera in its celebration of the mundane, Hal Hartley's feature debut (shot in just 11 days) is the closest thing yet to a suburban western — a sort of Shane on Long Island. Robert Burke is suitably terse and mysterious as the man in black (is he a killer or a priest?) who gives discontented Adrienne Shelly something more to think about than parental suffocation, nuclear holocaust and teenage romance. Full of quirky conversations and eccentric characters (who pride themselves on being normal), the film riddles its small-town idyll with well-aimed pot shots. The ending feels forced, however, and Hartley's direction is occasionally over-intrusive.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • Undecided whether to go to college, burdened by anxieties about nuclear apocalypse, forever at loggerheads with her Mom... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
    • Posted 04 Nov 2008

  • Most helpful member's review of The Unbelievable Truth

    View all
  • 9 out of 9 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    A classic Hartley comedy...

    An early, but still distinctively 'Hartley' film. I love how Hartley plays with innocence and irony in his characters and always manages to make me laugh. You can see some of his narrative devices that can be found in all his films, as well as soundtracks and themes. If you are a Hartley fan you will love it, but I think it is a good film for anyone interested in more progressive types or film.

      • DHW from London, UK
      • Posted 16 Nov 2004 08:43

  • Most recent members' review of The Unbelievable Truth

    View all
  • 9 out of 9 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    A classic Hartley comedy...

    An early, but still distinctively 'Hartley' film. I love how Hartley plays with innocence and irony in his characters and always manages to make me laugh. You can see some of his narrative devices that can be found in all his films, as well as soundtracks and themes. If you are a Hartley fan you will love it, but I think it is a good film for anyone interested in more progressive types or film.

      • DHW from London, UK
      • Posted 16 Nov 2004 08:43

  • News and features

    View all
    Factotum

    Waitress

    • 06 Aug 2007

    Sweet yet surprisingly tart, this summer sleeper is one of the feel-good movies of the year - or it would be, if it didn't come with such a sad back-story. We'll get to that later, let's talk about the film first. The lovely Keri Russell (best known for her long-running US series Felicity) plays Jenna, one of three waitresses at Joe's Diner, an old fashioned joint on some dusty southern road. In particular, the regulars cherish Jenna's pies, especially the daily special, which has a way of... Read more

  • More like this

    View all
    Showing 1 to 4 of 20

    loading

Find cinemas


Rating breakdown

956 Member ratings
  • 100
121
  • 90
104
  • 80
193
  • 70
176
  • 60
143
  • 50
73
  • 40
61
  • 30
31
  • 20
36
  • 10
18

Related user collection

Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop

    • The Unbelievable Truth

    • The Unbelievable Truth
    • DVD: £5.43
      Free Delivery
    • RRP £15.79 (you save: 66%)
      • In Hal Hartley's first feature film, THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, Josh (Robert Burke), a criminal who has just been released from prison, returns home to Lindenhurst, Long Island. There he's hired as a ...