There's a line in T. Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus" that came to mind during "Separate Lies": "Let but a Rising of the Sun, let but a Creation of the World happen twice, and it ceases to be miraculous, or noteworthy, or noticeable." Those who are curious about this movie and are willing to seek it out (I had to do some driving to reach it) may come away feeling "there's nothing new here," and in fact the surface events are fairly mundane: in the aftermath of a fatal car accident a successful lawyer (sorry, "solicitor") discovers his wife's been unfaithful to him, then they and the other guy have to cope with the ramifications of the accident. But the trick to telling any story is to go at it as though it's never been done before. When seen with what the former TV comic Gallagher used to call "new eyes," then it becomes fresh and compelling. The eyes here are those of actor/writer/producer J. Fellowes making his directorial debut. His TV background is visible as his story follows a strict linear format (except for a few flashbacks) with an occasional voice-over filling in a few chronological leaps. "Then some months later, something happened that
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The solicitor's played by Tom Wilkinson whose sturdy versatility was recently on display in "Batman Begins" (as a Gotham City gangster) and "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" (as a priest of indeterminate nationality). His Mr. Manning could be described as "anal" but there's an essential decency there that makes him impossible to dislike, for me anyway. His wife is Emily Watson who's been working pretty steadily since "Breaking the Waves"; in the interests of full disclosure, I admit she's a kind of goddess to me so it's hard for me to critique a specific performance of hers. Her task here is to present Mrs. Manning as an amoral klutz but who's kindhearted and ultimately adorable. In my view she carries it off. I don't know the other performers but they're English, thus ipso facto competent professionals. The guy playing the other guy ("the villain of the piece," he wryly describes himself) makes a case for being the most sympathetic character; we could have the new George Sanders on our hands here.
Ultimately this movie is about civilized modern adult people making their peace with the sometimes nasty compromising of ideals that life bullyingly tends to request of us, or maybe demand. Americans may be disappointed there's not more of a "resolution"; nobody gets shot to death or goes to prison or is depicted going to hell, although a few scenes hint at Sartre's play "No Exit" with the three people stuck in a room together for eternity. Only one scene has physical violence with Mr. Manning briefly going off on the other guy along with some language that I suppose earned the movie it's "R" rating. (We don't get to see Emily with her clothes off, sorry to say.) The key scenes for me were Mr. Manning watching through a restaurant window his wife and the other guy clearly enjoying being together, then later going to visit his estranged wife in the rain just to tell her that he wants her memories of their time together to be happy, not sad. In the latter scene Wilkinson's eyes achieve the kind of heartbreaking inner light that seems to come naturally to Brits; watch Chaplin at the end of "City Lights," you'll see the best example I can think of. I'll confess it resonated for me even more due to a certain personal situation .
Just a few random points, not even quibbles: it didn't bother me that Wilkinson is old enough to be Watson's father; if anything that made the attractiveness of the other guy more buyable. I wasn't sure why some scenes took place in Paris except to show that Wilkinson speaks French well, but the place looked nice. (Ironic having a French hotel named after an English king.) Not sure why the inquisitive cop had to be black except to make him stand out more (he's the only black character); I only mention it because when the only minority character is also the most pious straight-arrow character, sometimes it comes off as "white overcompensation" but the Brits can make it smooth and seamless. When late in the going we learn that the other guy has cancer, I thought "Oh crap, a palpable plot device," but they steer well clear of sappy "Terms of Endearment" territory. The cancer in fact sets up the ending which for Americans may seem jarringly not-what-we-have-come-to-expect. Not a stupid premise-annihilating "twist" but rather what we maybe would have expected if most of our movies weren't so manufacturedly saccharine.
Bottom line, "Lies" is a quiet little treat but I can't recommend you drive as far as I did to see it. Maybe you'd even enjoy it more on TV but it's not exactly "Titanic," I can't envision HBO showing it a zillion times .
By the way each sunrise I see DOES seem miraculous .
The solicitor's played by Tom Wilkinson whose sturdy versatility was recently on display in "Batman Begins" (as a Gotham City gangster) and "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" (as a priest of indeterminate nationality). His Mr. Manning could be described as "anal" but there's an essential decency there that makes him impossible to dislike, for me anyway. His wife is Emily Watson who's been working pretty steadily since "Breaking the Waves"; in the interests of full disclosure, I admit she's a kind of goddess to me so it's hard for me to critique a specific performance of hers. Her task here is to present Mrs. Manning as an amoral klutz but who's kindhearted and ultimately adorable. In my view she carries it off. I don't know the other performers but they're English, thus ipso facto competent professionals. The guy playing the other guy ("the villain of the piece," he wryly describes himself) makes a case for being the most sympathetic character; we could have the new George Sanders on our hands here.
Ultimately this movie is about civilized modern adult people making their peace with the sometimes nasty compromising of ideals that life bullyingly tends to request of us, or maybe demand. Americans may be disappointed there's not more of a "resolution"; nobody gets shot to death or goes to prison or is depicted going to hell, although a few scenes hint at Sartre's play "No Exit" with the three people stuck in a room together for eternity. Only one scene has physical violence with Mr. Manning briefly going off on the other guy along with some language that I suppose earned the movie it's "R" rating. (We don't get to see Emily with her clothes off, sorry to say.) The key scenes for me were Mr. Manning watching through a restaurant window his wife and the other guy clearly enjoying being together, then later going to visit his estranged wife in the rain just to tell her that he wants her memories of their time together to be happy, not sad. In the latter scene Wilkinson's eyes achieve the kind of heartbreaking inner light that seems to come naturally to Brits; watch Chaplin at the end of "City Lights," you'll see the best example I can think of. I'll confess it resonated for me even more due to a certain personal situation .
Just a few random points, not even quibbles: it didn't bother me that Wilkinson is old enough to be Watson's father; if anything that made the attractiveness of the other guy more buyable. I wasn't sure why some scenes took place in Paris except to show that Wilkinson speaks French well, but the place looked nice. (Ironic having a French hotel named after an English king.) Not sure why the inquisitive cop had to be black except to make him stand out more (he's the only black character); I only mention it because when the only minority character is also the most pious straight-arrow character, sometimes it comes off as "white overcompensation" but the Brits can make it smooth and seamless. When late in the going we learn that the other guy has cancer, I thought "Oh crap, a palpable plot device," but they steer well clear of sappy "Terms of Endearment" territory. The cancer in fact sets up the ending which for Americans may seem jarringly not-what-we-have-come-to-expect. Not a stupid premise-annihilating "twist" but rather what we maybe would have expected if most of our movies weren't so manufacturedly saccharine.
Bottom line, "Lies" is a quiet little treat but I can't recommend you drive as far as I did to see it. Maybe you'd even enjoy it more on TV but it's not exactly "Titanic," I can't envision HBO showing it a zillion times .
By the way each sunrise I see DOES seem miraculous .