It helps that "The Chameleon" is based on a true story because much of what occurs in writer-director Jean-Paul Salomé's tight adaptation of Christophe D'Antonio's book might otherwise seem a bit dubious. That's not to say this moody thriller about professional liar Frédéric Bourdin is without intrigue, it's just better viewed with, er, logistical tolerance.
The film finds Nicky, a Baton Rouge, La., youngster missing since 1996, turning up four years later in France claiming he was abducted from his hometown with traumatic consequences. The U.S. return of the now-17-year-old (Marc-André Grondin) is met with curiously varied response: His mousy wreck of a mother (Ellen Barkin) can barely speak to him and his unruly half-brother (Nick Stahl) treats him like dirt, while Nicky's kindly sister (Emilie de Ravin) and her upbeat husband (Brian Geraghty) readily take him in.
