The Lie

Kestin (The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats) settles for soap opera instead of meaningfully engaging with the moral issues raised by the ticking-time-bomb scenario of this clever, if contrived thriller. In the prologue, set in an Israeli hospital 45 years earlier than the main narrative, an Arab woman gives birth to a daughter and a Jewish woman has a son. In the present, Edward Al-Masri, a passionate advocate for Palestinian independence, and Dahlia Barr, an Israeli human rights lawyer, both in their mid-40s, are at turning points. Edward is arrested on returning from America to Israel with some smuggled currency, and Dahlia accepts the unlikely role of deciding which of Israel’s prisoners are to be tortured in order to prevent terrorist attacks. One such prisoner is Edward, whom Dahlia happens to know. Hezbollah’s kidnapping of Dahlia’s 20-year-old Israeli soldier son makes her job personal. The closing twist will resonate with fans of Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson. Agent: Ellen Levine, Trident Media Group. (Mar.)