You’d been forgiven if you’ve forgotten the name of Matt Aselton who, a decade earlier, made his directorial debut with Gigantic – a film with Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman inside a quirky mattress store and ideas of adoption that I caught at the 2008 Toronto Intl. Film Festival. Lying and Stealing is his sophomore feature, and while on paper this sounds like a longshot, perhaps there is a unique brand of weirdness carried over into a grifter tale that includes the likes of Theo James, Emily Ratajkowski, Fred Melamed, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Evan Handler and John Gatins. Filming took place in Los Angeles in November of 2017 and earlier this summer they were putting the final touches on the score.
Gist: Co-written by Aselton and Adam Nagata, Ivan (Theo James) is a suave, young thief whose specialty is stealing high end art from the L.A. elite. Business is good, but Ivan wants out. Elyse (Ratajkowski) is an aspiring actress with a closet full of skeletons and a mountain of debt. Soon these two clever grifters decide to team up for one last, big daring heist.
Production Co./Producers: Michael Costigan (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile), Naomi Despres (Lizzie), Mohamed AlRafi (Above Suspicion) and Asleton.
Prediction: Premieres section or Tribeca in April.
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. UTA Independent Film Group (domestic). Global Road (international).
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