Separate Lies
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Movie Reviews of Separate Lies
Movie Review: The ghosts haunting us . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
The film builds in quality; beginning as a conventional story of deception, death and intrigue, it builds into a contemplation of life and death of relationships and love . . . which never flickers out. The ghosts of our past, the echoes of crimes past, haunt us. As the brilliant Tom Wilkinson reminds us: we make choices sometimes with the best of intentions and they change things . . . a simple, but profound truth.Movie Review: Separate lies, separate lives, separate loves, seperate...
Summary: 4 Stars
Last week I was watching the episode of "American Idol" where the judges tell the guys and gals who has made it to the dozen of each gender who get to compete for the "final" twelve spots (i.e., the ones who get to go on tour). The most dramatic moment came when Mandisa, who watched the audition show where she tried out and heard what Simon Cowell had to say about her weight after she left the room, had a chance to confront him. The gist of her remarks to him was that she was hurt by what he had said, but that she had forgiven him and that her apology was not dependent on his apology, which he eventually got around to making. A couple of weeks ago Shaquille O'Neal, after a talk with Bill Russell about how hate is not a necessary element to competition, talked to Kobe Bryant for the first time since they went their separate ways. The common denominator to the two stories is that living with hate is not a way to live and that letting things go is the good way to go. "Separate Lies" comes to a similar conclusion and reinforces the lessons I have been seeing in recent weeks.
Before we get to the title of the film a man on a bicycle is clipped by a car and thrown to the side of the road. This fleeting incident has a profound impact on James Manning (Tom Wilkinson), a solicitor who lives near that country lane with his wife, Anne (Emily Watson). The man who died was the husband of their housekeeper, which makes it rather personal for James and when he sees a mark on the car driven by William Bule (Rupert Everett), a friend of Anne's he becomes suspicious and confronts William, who eventually admits to the deed. But when William tells Anne what has happened she has a confession of her own to make that changes everything for William and turns his world upside down. The tragedy is that no matter what he does, it seems James cannot make things right.
My main insight to this 2005 film by Julian Fellow (writer of "Gosford Park"), who wrote the adaptation of Nigel Balchin's novel "A Way Through the Wood," was the character of William because even though he is played by Rupert Everett there is no obvious reason for Anne or anybody else to find him preferable to James. After all, William only has a vague idea as to how old his two sons might be, makes no effort to act charming, and is wholly indifferent to having killed someone. The only thing that seems to recommend William is that he is not James; specifically, James is always providing tests for Anne that she fails and William simply does not care enough not to trust her. While Anne says the right things as they try to make things work, her actions indicate she is leading a separate life. James surrenders to the inevitable, and finds a personal grace note that allows him to continue.
Wilkinson's performance is at the heart of this film and he presents James as a man who is not comfortable when he is not in control, especially when it is made clear to him he has not been in control for some time and that security is never coming back again. Watson matches him in terms of quiet intensity, because while voices might be raised it would not be proper to be screaming. Would anger and the attendant passion have made a difference earlier, or were they doomed from the moment they settled on the life of living in the country but James working in the city? The fissures in this marriage had been covered up by dust long before this movie started.
Movie Review: Top-Notch Relationship Drama Driven by Tom Wilkinson's Wonderful Performance.
Summary: 4 Stars
"Separate Lies" is a relationship drama loosely adapted from Nigel Balchin's novel "A Way Through the Wood" by writer and director Julian Fellowes. No life its perfect. So says James Manning (Tom Wilkinson), who appears to have the perfect life. He's a wealthy solicitor with a younger wife, Anne (Emily Watson), who divides his time between a lovely country home in Buckinghamshire and a smart London townhouse. Unbeknownst to James, Anne is exhausted by her husband's unrelenting high expectations and precisely ordered life. She finds relief, of sorts, in the arms of pompous, aloof neighbor Bill Bule (Rupert Everett). When a hit-and-run accident kills the husband of their housekeeper Maggie (Linda Bassett), James suspects that Bill was the driver. But James' sleuthing uncovers some painful truths about his own life.
The drama presents itself as a lovers triangle plot buoyed by complex character writing, attention to detail, and great performances. Self-satisfied James, quietly frustrated Anne, insufferable Bill, and a car accident could easily make a neurotic melodrama. "Separate Lies" has a few of those moments, but it's tone is overwhelmingly genuine. The story is primarily about James, and Tom Wilkinson delivers one of the best performances of the year. James' smugness, his introversion, his frustration at his wife's infidelity and distaste at having to conspire with her obnoxious lover come through powerfully with so few words. The car accident is a catalyst, but it separates this film from many others of its kind in my mind, because it creates a real problem for the characters. They are not just motivated by happiness or misery or various neuroses. Someone has died, and others could go to prison. Lives will be destroyed. The fact that these people suddenly have a real problem, not just malaise, makes their actions comprehensible and sympathetic. "Separate Lies" has a mercifully unromantic view of love and sex, which are peripheral to the wide gamut of emotions, choices, and consequences that these 3 characters experience.
The DVD (20th Century Fox 2006): This is a 2-sided disc, with full screen version on one side and widescreen on the other. There is a theatrical trailer (2 min) and a good audio commentary by writer/director Julian Fellowes. Fellowes delvers a spirited, comprehensive analysis of the film, commenting on locations, sets, characters, story, themes. He takes us through the story, his intentions, and what is going on with the characters, scene-by scene. There is a lot of information in the commentary, and it would make a great study guide to the film. Subtitles are available for the film in English and Spanish. Dubbing is available in French and Spanish.
Movie Review: Complex drama with strong performances 3 1/2 stars
Summary: 4 Stars
Opening with idyllic shots of the English countryside in a wealthy neighborhood "Separate Lies" follows the disintegration of what appears to be a perfect marriage on the surface between a London solicitor James Manning(Tom Wilkinson), his wife Anne (Emily Watson) and Bill Bule (Rupert Everett in a cool performance) a mysterious wealthy stranger just returned from New York. When a local is killed in a hit and run accident suspicions fall on Bill. Manning pursues the case and uncovers an unsavory aspect of us life when he opens the door to try and convince Bill to do the right thing.
A well made combination of character study and thriller Fellowes' film reminds me quite a bit of "Betrayal" with the emotional twists and turns the character must go through. All three main actors give terrific performances but Wilkinson's slow burn performance takes center stage. There the resemblance ends as the plot thickens ends as Manning, Anne and Bill are drawn further and further into a whirlpool of deceit. Anchored by a trio outstanding performances "Separate Lies" does what English dramas do best and Hollywood rarely can do anymore-create a drama focused on the characters and their world.
"Separate Lies" features robust, bold colors that look marvelous in this transfer. The transfer has remarkable clarity and detail with no digital or analog artifacts that I can detect. Fox has pulled out all the stops in putting together the look and sound for this DVD. The 5.1 mix sounds quite good although it's not designed to use the format to best effect the surround speakers are used for subtle sound effects.
Unfortunately we don't get much in the way of extras here just the original theatrical trailer and a commentary track however the commentary track by writer/director Fellowes is quite detailed with incredible insight and wit. This is one of the best commentary tracks I've heard so that makes up for the lack of other extras. Deleted scenes and outtakes would have been a nice edition to the film particularly with a trio of such terrific actors driving the drama in this film.
Although this dramatic thriller won't be to everyone's taste, "Separate Lies" manages to be an involving, powerful drama with a trio of terrific performances. Those interested in a thought provoking morally complex drama will enjoy this film. Keep in mind this is much more in keeping with some of Hitchcock's more thoughtful, quiet thrillers than the over-the-top or larger than life thrillers that tend to dominate the theaters today.
Movie Review: "No life is perfect, though it may pretend to be."
Summary: 4 Stars
In this quietly powerful movie, a profoundly moral man is faced with a terrible decision, one that becomes increasingly complicated as the story evolves. Successful solicitor James Manning (Tom Wilkinson) has always followed a strict moral code, one that chafes on his all-too-mortal wife, Anne (Emily Watson), who believes he sets impossibly high standards that she will always fail. Attracted to a divorced heir recently returned to the English countryside, the charming, if jaded Billy Bule (Rupert Everett), Anne allows herself to be seduced. Returning home to host a cocktail party after a couple of drinks with Billy while her husband is in London on business, Anne and Billy are involved in a hit and run accident. The victim is Mr. Pierce, the husband of the Manning's housekeeper.
Manning's determined pursuit of the perpetrator leads to unexpected revelations, the most devastating that his wife was driving the vehicle in question. Suddenly the solution becomes personal and Manning's reputation and marriage is on the line, not to mention his anxiety for Anne's well-being. Surprisingly, it is Anne who cannot bear her own failings, riddled with guilt, not because of the affair she fails to end, but because of her betrayal of the widow, Mrs. Pierce, who refuses to believe Anne is at fault in spite of her abject confession. It is the housekeeper's forgiveness that shames them all, freeing them to attend to the business of living, the Manning's attempt to heal a flawed marriage: "She was tired of feeling guilty, so in the end she stayed." When Billy is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Anne fails her husband once more, leaving to minister to the man she loves, the torrid affair turned more tender by necessity.
The juxtaposition of emotions is delicate and thoughtful, the weight of personal guilt palpable, especially for Manning, who is so finely tuned to his moral compass, the one impediment to a successful marriage with a faithless woman. Ultimately, Bule dies and the Manning's come to terms with their loss of one another, moving on to separate lives, but with the peace of having gone from anger and resentment to a common forgiveness. The one act of violence that changes the direction of the Manning's lives is supplanted by a more compassionate view of the human condition and the peril of lies and infidelity. Beautifully nuanced, Wilkinson's performance stands out and Watson is perfection as the not-so-young, conflicted and unhappy wife of a very moral man. Luan Gaines/2006.