Tim Roth as Cal Lightman

Lie To Me is Dr Cal Lightman. Dr Cal Lightman is Tim Roth. In other words, Lie To Me seems to be little more than a ruse to showcase the extraordinary & brilliant acting ability of Tim Roth. The rest of the cast, the writers, the director, the scripts, the stage settings & the rest are but mere cinematic props to focus on Dr Cal, who is extraordinarily portrayed by Roth. To make the case, the character of Cal was devised to be the most complex & deep character that I've ever seen on TV, in a movie, in a play, or in world literature. LET'S SEE-The character of Cal includes the social roles of scientist-author-businessman-interrogator-PI-all around "bad boy"-gambling addict-concerned father-exhusband-colleague-boss-friend-humanitarian among others. The emotional range of the character Cal encompasses contemplation-humor-anger-brusqueness-befuddlement-condescension-empathy-lust-wittiness-flamboyance-zaniness, among others. That all these social roles & emotional qualities could be included in one character is seemingly unreal, but to expect one actor to weave all these disparate character elements into a single coherent performance is just plain crazy. But Tim Roth as Cal Lightman pulls it off with what appears to be great ease. There is Roth as Dr Cal striding down the long hallway in The Lightman Group in his awkward zany gait, smoothly transitioning between one role & another, & one emotion & another as if it were child's play. I've been working my way thru Roth's films on NFlix & have been stunned by his ability to excellently portray such divergent roles as a hit man for hire in Little Odessa & the zany, comical bell hop in Four Rooms. But in Lie To Me, Roth really blows me away by easily portraying the great many roles that are invested in the character Cal all in a singular performance. And Roth carries on this seemingly impossible acting task for 3 whole TV seasons. The starting point of many of the "cases" that Dr Cal takes on in this series are improbable & even absurd, but all the cases are made believable by excellent writing, direction, & acting. Tim Roth's acting smoothly navigates the twists in each "case", leading the rest of the cast along the way. Perhaps the reason that Lie To Me ended after just 3 seasons is simply because it accomplished what it originally set out to do & that is to show to the world that Tim Roth IS THE GREATEST ACTOR OF ALL TIME. 20 Stars !! 20 Stars !! 20 Stars !!