Able melodrama
Added 12/22/2008
This is a fine film in many ways. The acting is superb, and so is the camera work. The shots in Wales are stunning. The script is good....until the last fifteen minutes or so. Writer-Director Fellowes simply lacked a believable or even interesting ending. The entire script collapses into soap opera, leaving sensible viewers frustrated. What could have been a magnificent movie turns out to be mere tv network melodrama.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
JULIAN FELLOWES, OPUS 1
Added 9/28/2008
*** 2005. Written and directed by Julian Fellowes, this film is an adaptation of Nigel Balchin's A way through the wood. A seemingly happy couple's life is turned upside down when Anne hits a cyclist while driving the car of her lover Bill Bule. I personally consider Emily Watson as one of the best actresses of the last twenty years, so I simply had to see SEPARATE LIES. The film is not a masterpiece but is still enjoyable thanks to the actors's performance. And, while watching the film, you can also imagine Italian or Hispanic actors playing the main characters (very funny). Already forgotten.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Good stuff
Added 9/4/2008
Great interiors and exteriors in this sex and lies adult melodrama from the Brits. True, the husband and wife have no chemistry, but that's the point, isn't it? The lover has a wonderfully hungry look to him. The plot is nicely twisted, but not overly complex. You could do much worse than watch this for an evening's entertainment.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
One star is generous enough
Added 6/19/2008
the writing / storyline and direction of this bomb are awful. The characters are not believeable. Every time you think the movie is over then another scene starts. Wilkinson plays the part of a solicitor who is too forgiving of his unfaithful wife played by Emma Watson. None of the characters are likeable. Just pitiable. You have been warned. I wish I had those 2 hours of my life back that I wasted on this movie.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Great script, but miserable direction and execution in SEPARATE LIES
Added 12/16/2007
SEPARATE LIES is a well written screenplay by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (GOSFORD PARK)that intricately entwines four people in Upper Crust England in a web of deceit,cover up,lies and infidelity when a housekeeper's husband is struck and killed by a speeding Land Rover while on his bicycle.The screenplay has beautiful twists and turns and is quite tight.The rub is that Fellowes does not have a good grasp on how to direct his own screenplay and the immense talents of Rupert Everett,Tom Wilkinson and Emily Watson.A film that has so much promise,especially with composer Stanislas Syrewicz (CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE,NORA,CRIME AND PUNISHMENT)never reaches any real tension or climax that is promised in the script.Fellowes is first and foremost a fine actor (JANE EYRE,DAMAGE,MARTIN CHUZZELWIT) turned writer and is a darn good at both.He is NOT a director,and SEPARATE LIES is a brilliant example of his first and only attempt thus far.The movie barely shifts any gears and stays relatively in park for all 86 minutes.Everett,Wilkinson and Watson, the veritable who's-who of the UK acting world are wasted in the worst way (big time).The film is as dry as dust and shows no promise of any future success for Fellowes as a director.The screenplay should have been shopped around! DVD offers no extras.One time viewing only.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
Able melodrama
Added 12/22/2008
This is a fine film in many ways. The acting is superb, and so is the camera work. The shots in Wales are stunning. The script is good....until the last fifteen minutes or so. Writer-Director Fellowes simply lacked a believable or even interesting ending. The entire script collapses into soap opera, leaving sensible viewers frustrated. What could have been a magnificent movie turns out to be mere tv network melodrama.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
JULIAN FELLOWES, OPUS 1
Added 9/28/2008
*** 2005. Written and directed by Julian Fellowes, this film is an adaptation of Nigel Balchin's A way through the wood. A seemingly happy couple's life is turned upside down when Anne hits a cyclist while driving the car of her lover Bill Bule. I personally consider Emily Watson as one of the best actresses of the last twenty years, so I simply had to see SEPARATE LIES. The film is not a masterpiece but is still enjoyable thanks to the actors's performance. And, while watching the film, you can also imagine Italian or Hispanic actors playing the main characters (very funny). Already forgotten.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Good stuff
Added 9/4/2008
Great interiors and exteriors in this sex and lies adult melodrama from the Brits. True, the husband and wife have no chemistry, but that's the point, isn't it? The lover has a wonderfully hungry look to him. The plot is nicely twisted, but not overly complex. You could do much worse than watch this for an evening's entertainment.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
