Deception

DECEPTION seems on paper one of those great sparkling confections people like Stanley Donen or Hitchcock used to whip up effortlessly--half travelogue, half international potboiler--that really seemed just an excuse to pose young lovers against the backdrop of Paris or someplace more exotic. But this poorly written film can't hold a candle to the memory of those earlier works.

Bessie Faro (Andie MacDowell) is a kooky housewife who sustains herself on true love and food stamps. One day a package arrives COD, bearing a charred upper plate, presumably her late husband's. As played by Viggo Mortensen (THE INDIAN RUNNER) in numerous flashbacks, Johnny Faro is a tre...