Separate Lies (2005)

As I was watching this film, it suddenly occurred to me why, after so many years of not liking most British films, in more recent years I have enjoyed more of them. And I think the reason is that the British are a little less into big budget special effects extravaganzas, and more into enjoying a film simply for great acting. And this is an example of the latter.The plot here is quite good. A older man is bicycling and is struck by a vehicle being driven by a younger man. As the plot unfolds it slowly comes to light that the vehicle was actually being driven by a barrister's wife who was having an affair with the younger man. Where are the wife's real loyalties? And who should surrender to the police? And will they? And is the husband just being a sap? What's interesting here is that some plot twists you may expect don't happen...and I guess that's a plot twist in and of itself.Tom Wilkinson is one of those actors whom it's a pleasure just watching. He is superb here, as he has been in every film in which I have seen him. He plays the wronged husband who has his own faults. He did seem just a tab bit too old for the part, however.Emily Watson is the wife/adulteress. A good performance, although I was not at all familiar with her.Rupert Everett plays the cad here...and does it quite well. He doesn't look well.Richenda Carey is very good as the dead man's wife, who is also a maid for Wilkinson and his wife. A good backstory there.If you want a thrill a minute, pass it by. If you want really solid acting...enjoy!

Julian Fellowes, the distinguished writer of "Godsford Park", presents us with another civilized tale of self contained emotions. This time however, the ingredients are somehow at odds with each other and the strange taste that left in my palate indicates that, perhaps, it was removed from the oven a little too soon. I longed for Joseph Losey at the helm and Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles and Alan Bates as the protagonists. Emily Watson is always marvelous but here, she doesn't have the kind of support she, as an actress or as a character, deserved and/or needed. Tom Wilkinson, as good as he is, doesn't have the layers of a Dirk Bogarde or James Mason. He is exactly what you get and Rupert Everett, who became a star overnight with Julian Mitchell's "Another Country" has taken a strange and puzzling road. His close ups are kind of frightening. His mouth has become the center of attention and not the kind of attention one would expect. It belongs to the villain in a horror movie. I noticed that already in his comedy with Madonna. I know, perhaps, all this sounds irrelevant but it conditioned my response to "Separate Lies" I wanted to be riveted and I wasn't.

I gave it a seven only because the acting is good. And of course by that I mean Wilkinson. The other two principals were "decent". But the characters themselves...what on earth was so bad about the character Wilkinson played (James Manning)? I didn't see him behaving like the martinet Emily Watson accused him of being. Bill Bule, on the other hand, was an insufferable jerk who I was praying would meet an extremely brutal and prolonged demise. Who was I kidding? Tom Wilkinson isn't Paul Bettany after all. So what on EARTH did Emily Watson's (Anne) character SEE in him???? She herself admitted he was pretty much a piece of offal in his treatment of her. Why would she even want to be in the same TOWN as him, to say nothing of the same "room".I noticed some other reviews, one person said she "cried" at the end, to witness James' tragedy. ??? WHAT tragedy? What, you mean losing an imbecile who finds someone like Bill Bule AMUSING???!!! Give us a break.

..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.