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Updated 08/20/2012 08:01 AM

Lone Star Scene: 'The Imposter' exposes missing Texan mystery

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From the files of truth that's stranger than fiction comes the unbelievable missing person story presented in "The Imposter."

The movie is about a 13-year-old boy, Nicholas Barclay, who disappeared off the streets of San Antonio and a con man on the other side of the world who stole his identity and eventually moved in back in with the Barclay family three and half years later.

The riveting film is a hybrid documentary, part interviews and part dramatization that reenacts how the sham played out from San Antonio to Spain and back.

Frédéric Bourdin is the French-Algerian man who impersonated the missing boy. In the film, he confesses how and why he pulled off the elaborate scam. With a stylish blend of investigative storytelling the drama includes more jaw-dropping twists that most fictional material.

Director Bart Layton delivers not only one of the most critically acclaimed films in theaters today, but also crafts a thrilling mystery that puts most Hollywood screenplays to shame.

"The Imposter" first screened during South By Southwest and just opened in a few Texas theaters this past weekend. Locally, you'll find it showing at Arbor Cinema in Northwest Austin.