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.

pc95 Early on during Separate Lies, you know there's something out of sorts. The narrator, James, as the lead character has hinted at it through his hindsight, and you expect some tumult. However, the perplexing decision the director has made is to only focus on the main character wholly. We feel his shock, bewilderment,confusion, and sadness. But we're only really able to witness and empathize with him rather than the other two main characters. This decision of only focusing on him seems to weaken the emotional impact in terms of the screenplay although it may be more original. (spoilers) At first reaction to the waves of bad news, I felt some pretty strong contempt for the Wilkerson's character in his supposed emotions and reactions, as sort of lacking a backbone and becoming a doormat. But upon pondering, I thought the whole thing seemed somewhat believable just not agreeable. Anyway, the movie's screenplay is pretty good - but without the emotional angles of Anne and William (other 2 main characters) it becomes a one-sided story which may be the point. Separate Lies is well acted, scripted but detached and aloof save for Wilkerson making it strangely unappealing and lacking. (spoiler) The lead character's initial reaction to infidelity is too forgiving, although his about face in terms of the accident was well played out. And the Watson character at times does not seem convincing in her lack of emotion. How are we able to believe her feelings if all that is on display is her blank countenances during conversations? Also, how unaffected and blasé the 2 perpetrators of the accident are was distastefully repugnant. Several characters keep remarking how Anne (Watson character) is riddled with guilt, but it hardly registered in any scene. Wilkerson seems to perform best in no small part to his majority share of screen-time and his validation of emotions. Pretty good, but could've been better, and maybe even done without the accident.

Neil Turner Years ago when I first read John Irving's The World According to Garp, I was astounded that most of the younger adults with whom I had contact didn't like the book when I loved it. I began to understand that it was an age and experience thing. I experienced somewhat of a déjà vu when reading some of the comments on this site that were clearly written by younger viewers. Fully enjoying Separate Lies is surely an age and experience thing.In this film the viewer sees a seemingly happy upper middle class couple - he a successful lawyer - she the perfect wife of a successful lawyer. They have a townhouse in London and a home in the country. All's well until there enters the "villain" in the guise of the son of the richest man in the village. This guy appears to be a cad from the word, "Go." He is disdainful of everyone and everything including his own children. In the traditional form of nice guys finishing last, the lawyer's wife engages in an affair with the bounder. You see the lawyer really is a nice guy but with the marriage killing trait of an organized perfectionist. Even though he truly loves her, he is boring his wife to death. The bad boy is far more exciting.All of this is entangled with the hit-and-run death of a man in the village in which all the facts point to the cad being the driver of the vehicle.It's easy to determine that this movie doesn't build to a happy ending, however, it does lead to a very satisfying ending in that the man and his wife learn and grow from their experiences and probably will be able to conduct their personal lives in a more successful manner.Three excellent actors play the main characters in this film, and it is there performances that make the whole thing a pleasure to watch. Tom Wilkinson is perfect as the husband. His portrayal shows us a kind man who has so much control over his emotions that he has lost touch with the world. Emily Watson shows us a woman who has become so trapped in the role of perfect wife that she has almost lost her knowledge of passion. That passion is reborn by the character deftly played by Rupert Everett.If you have reached that point in life in which you understand that everyone has feet of clay and that everyone - even with the gifts of intelligence and opportunities - makes many many wrong decisions, then you will probably enjoy watching these excellent actors creating the lives of three such people. This is a beautifully acted and directed adult film about realistic adults.

blanche-2 Another great Tom Wilkinson performance punctuates "Separate Lies," a 2005 film also starring Emily Watson, Linda Bassett and Rupert Everett. Directed by Julian Fellowes, it's the story of a married couple, James and Ann Manning where the husband (Wilkinson) believes he and his wife (Watson) are happy together. An accident near their house on the night they have a party brings the police around. It is a hit and run that killed their maid Maggie's (Bassett) husband. James becomes suspicious of a neighbor, Bill Bule (Everett) when he sees some damage on his car. He confronts Bule, who admits he did it and promises to go to the police the next day. When James arrives home, Ann is angry that he is making such a big deal out of it and states that she was driving the car. Of course, James then isn't so eager to rush to the police. She suggests that they call Bule and tell him their decision. "Oh, f___ Bule," James says. "Well, that's just it," Ann says. "I am f___ing Bule." James' devastation is just the beginning in this well-crafted drama. Without giving the plot away, this is a good example of how gender switching changes a story. Example of what I mean: Susan Smith drives her car into a lake and her children drown. She gets life in prison. What if the father had done it? The chair. You'd be surprised how often the outcome would be different. The same is true here - if it had been James having the affair and doing the subsequent activities, viewers might feel differently about the story. If Ann were in James' place, it would be shattering. As it is, it's tremendously sad.Tom Wilkinson is heartbreaking as a man blindsided by the woman he adores, and Emily Watson does a beautiful job as Ann, who, once she frees herself from her lies - her involvement in the accident and the happy marriage - knows what she has to do. Rupert Everett as Bule is very effective - indolent, uppity and ultimately in need. Everyone here is very civilized in their dealings with one another, and no one is all good or all bad.There are separate lies - James that his marriage is happy, Ann's as listed above - and there is one uniting lie - the accident, about which all parties keep quiet. It's enough for Ann that Maggie knows. In the end, all must deal with the separate lies that the single lie uncovered.Brilliant film.