Producer appeals film rating

The producer of the film “Where the Truth Lies,” a murder mystery that stars Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth, said Monday that he would appeal the decision by the Motion Picture Assn. of America to give it an NC-17 rating.

The rating would limit the theatrical audience to people older than 17. Many U.S. theaters will not show films with that designation.

Robert Lantos, the producer of the film, said the MPAA issued the rating based on a pivotal menage a trois scene involving Bacon, Firth and Rachel Blanchard, whose character is found dead the next morning. “It cannot be cut without compromising the central scene of the narrative and thus rendering the mystery of the film incomprehensible,” Lantos said.

“Where the Truth Lies,” due to open Oct. 14, concerns the efforts of a reporter (Alison Lohman) to find out years later what happened that night. It was written and directed by Atom Egoyan, based on the novel by Rupert Holmes.