Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

Konterr Brilliant and touching

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Malcolm Taylor The strength of this film is its straight talking characters who seem bored with the British tradition of keeping up appearances. They spit forth bold truths, when cornered, ripping off the veil of entrenched lies and secrecy at the drop of a hat. This British film uses this boldness in nimble ways through out, allowing it to sidestep typical American dramatic clichés.For instance, when Bill, played with delightful abandon by Rupert Everett, calls James, carved out with intense subtlety by Tom Wilkinson, in order to corroborate their story for a police investigation, the cuckolded James wants to skip to the part where he gets to beat up Bill. But Bill responds deftly with, "Oh yes, yes. We can do all that later..." James concedes for the moment. Still, he gets his revenge, minus the dramatics, knocking Bill flat with an un-telegraphed punch. Cut. No dramatics required.Likewise a "F--- Bill!" out burst from James during an exchange with his wife Anne, played with great sympathy by Emily Watson, leads her to confess that, yes, that is exactly the point, "I have been f---ing Bill. Or rather he's been f---ing me." A frank confession from a cornered character for whom denial is the more difficult choice.When push comes to shove, the potential shove is either accepted as in Bill's case above, or diffused by a confession such as Anne's. She believes the simplest way forward is to suffer justice, anything to escape the burden of lying. Meanwhile the only way forward for James is exactly the opposite: to cover up, get your story straight and barrel forward. But even he needs lessons from Bill once he's brought into the fray and forced to corroborate with his wife's seducer as the only way forward.One of the big vacancies of this film is that is doesn't give James a dirty little secret that he is hiding. His wife Anne keeps saying how he's perfect, setting the viewer up for the opposite. Only the screenplay co-written by Nigel Balchin and Julian Fellowes seems to have no qualms about him being perfect. James' only flaw is that he's a workaholic. His late nights are genuinely given over to the firm. Yes, he has a minor tryst with his secretary, but only after Anne's transgressions mount to be irreversible.The film seems to let James off the hook for the end of his marriage. It allows him to revel in victim mode, choosing bitterness as his outlet. He never examines his own behaviour and the impact it may have had on the dissolution of his marriage. His greatest fault, the product of his work-obsession: he's fathered no offspring. This, according to Anne, is because he's too concerned with order to welcome the chaos children would level on his house. That's a little nit-picky, isn't it? We usually look for something grander. If he has no dark secret, is there much point to the entire film? He doesn't even exhibit the slightest lingering stare at his secretary! Anne's suggestion that they as a couple remain friends with Bill even after she's ended her affair with him solicits the following response from James, "That's a little too Jerry Springer for me." A huge door is offered here through which likewise elements could stick themselves to James giving him a much-needed point of antithesis. Yet the script sadly leaves this door firmly shut.As a result the film is slightly anorexic in this regard. And it shows with a surprisingly slim running time of just over 80 minutes, only slightly longer than a television episode. With such a brilliant cast one could easily follow their intermingling for a few more unexpected turns, at least another 20 minutes or so. No doubt this is a credit to the exceptional cast who it seems, make this film feel slightly better than it actually is. In the process exposing it for being slightly less than stellar.

Martin Bradley This tale of the upper-classes getting their come-uppance and wallowing in their high-class misery is like a contemporary Mid-Sommerish version of an old Joan Crawford movie in which she suffered in mink. Here, people behave in a frightfully civilized manner in the face of adversity. A well-heeled London solicitor, (Tom Wilkinson), discovers that not only is his wife having an affair with the local gentry but that she has also killed their housekeeper's husband in a hit-and-run accident. He throws up, but otherwise his stiff-upper-lip hardly quavers.Written and directed by Julian Fellowes, who won an Oscar for writing "Gosford Park", (this is his directorial debut), from a novel by Nigel Balchin, it's quite comical although I am not sure how much of the comedy is intended. It's like a throw-back to British films of the forties where characters all behaved like characters in books or plays rather than like people might in real life. However, it's not all bad. Wilkinson is terrific, even if you never believe in him as a person while Emily Watson, (the adulterous wife), and Rupert Everett, (the highly amoral high-class totty), are both very good at covering the cracks in the material. Tony Pierce-Roberts' cinematography ensures that no matter how hard it is on the ear it's always good on the eye.

blitzebill ..we weave, and you know the rest of that.deception, adultery, guilt, spinelessness, accidental murder, nature's retribution, did i leave anything out?i'm not sure i buy the husband's argument that his wife's felony would ruin his reputation. it's his wife's problem, not his, and it probably would not have done much harm.now i can see the need to protect the one you love, but i guess if i found out my wife was cheating, and the rest of the story, i probably would have turned her in. but that's just me. justice and all that.then there's God's punishment on Bill. How neat and tidy.but the end at least was the logical one, no goofy surprises.

Chrysanthepop Fellowes's directorial debut takes us into a tangle of complex adult relationships. His story unfolds after an accident takes place which is followed by a web of lies. Fellowes gets to the point right from the very beginning. The wonderful score and cinematography set the tone. Fellowes uses less close-ups as he stresses on the full body gesture of his actors. I also liked his attention to detail and the subtle nuances of his actors, notice his choice of location and props which are all a relevant part of the scenes. I must further add that the authentic locations are quite breathtaking.He has wisely chosen gifted actors like Tom Wilkinson and Emily Watson to play the key roles. Wilkinson is at his best while the sublime Ms. Watson downplays her part with grace and complete ease. Hermione Norris has an effective presence. The always dependent Linda Bassett stands out. Rupert Everett looks a little awkward but is quite adequate.At first glance, 'Separate Lies' may not appeal to all as it's quite easy to miss some of the important details and misinterpret the nuances of the actors. However, on second viewing, I was able to appreciate the film on a much deeper level. On an additional note, the director's commentary is a brilliant bonus. Fellowes provides some great insights into 'Separate Lies' and he has put a lot of efforts into its making.