Strong and Moving!

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Television adaptation of Hugh Whitemore's play about an older British couple in a suburb of London circa 1961 learning from the police that their best friends of three years--a Canadian couple who live across the road--may be involved with a notorious Russian spy. Not-bad "Hallmark Hall of Fame" production is a bare-bones dramatic presentation coasting on the performances of its cast, with the emphasis on Ellen Burstyn as the otherwise-friendless housewife who feels betrayed by chatty, lively neighbor Teri Garr. Garr is working seriously here, but there's too many close-ups of her looking puzzled, asking the same redundant questions; Burstyn fares a bit better, even if her accent comes and goes (which can be overlooked). Still, Ellen's character deteriorates under the pressure of falsehood far too soon (everyone, at some point, becomes a liar in this teleplay--a gimmick that is heightened in the dialogue but, thankfully, not underscored too strenuously). The downbeat conclusion--and the two useless melodramatic tags--is unsatisfying, as is Alan Bates' role (and over-the-top performance) as a British agent. Worth-seeing for the intriguing first-half, but the hysteria which follows feels canned.

Someone mentioned that the plot of this movie was not very believable - unfortunately, it was based on fact (names changed, etc). The Krogers were an absolute menace and deserved everything they got, along with the rest of their spy ring, and how on earth were they able to flee the US and insinuate themselves into Ruislip?? However, I enjoyed the movie very much, although I missed the first 30 minutes (have now seen the entire thing - excellent movie IMHO). I couldn't understand why Ellen Burstyn's character was so distraught, if I had discovered my 'best ' friend had been lying to me all along I'd have gone right off her! Teri Garr's character despicably blamed her friend for HER deception!!! But then, that's how these fanatical types are, never wiling to assume responsibility for their own actions and always looking to blame the other guy. The setting was very good, very authentic for late fifties/ early sixties suburban London, and the period was captured perfectly.

The story of "Pack of Lies" relates to husband and wife Bill and Ruth Search, and their daughter Gay (who is now a well-known TV and newspaper journalist in the UK). The Searches lived across the road from Peter and Helen Kroger, who had rented a bungalow at 45 Cranley Drive in Ruislip, England.When they were arrested in January 1961, it was revealed that the Krogers weren't who they appeared to be - they were actually Morris and Lona Cohen, a pair of spies, who worked with fellow spy Gordon Lonsdale in the 1950's and 1960s, photographing and encoding as microdots various pieces of material which they then sent to their colleagues in Russia."Pack of Lies" is the story of the tragic effect that Soviet spy Lona Cohen had on an innocent lady who thought she'd found a friend.

I saw this film when it was first presented on network TV sponsored by Hallmark Hall of Fame.What we see is a beautifully made film about, Love, friendship and deceit. The movie is set in the early sixties and is about the lives of basically two families are have become close over the years.Ellen Burstyn gives an outstanding performance as a British homemaker who spends her days happily performing the tasks of her simple life while enjoying a close friendship with the neighbor across the street played by Teri Garr. We watch as both families happily intermingle and enjoy their lives until one day a British agent appears at the door of Burstyn explaining that they are looking for a spy who seemed to be operating in their neighborhood and soon after the agents set up a surveilance from the house. From this point on in the movie we experience the drama of a family trying to hide thier fears. We see Burstyn on the brink of a breakdown knowing in her heart that she was deceived by the only true friend she had. We see even before she does that the Garr charecter and her husband are not what they appear to be making the the final realization of Burstyn that mush more heartbreaking...I taped this film back in 1987 and have watched it often and it still has a profound effect on me......