Separate Lies

A domestic drama about the destructive effects of infidelity on an upper-class British couple (with an almost coincidental subplot about a police investigation of a mysterious hit-and-run that leaves a man dead), director Julian Fellowes' (who wrote Gosford Park and the novel Snobs) Separate Lies aims to be an emotionally sharp film with something profound to say about the nature of relationships, guilt, and reconciliation. But it's played at so high a pitch that it ends up being rather ridiculous, like a spoof of the lesser English soap operas aired on PBS. In fact, the acting, especially by the usually reliable Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom)—here playing a powerful lawyer whose wife (Emily Watson) leaves him for a foppish and amoral aristocrat (Rupert Everett)—goes so over the top that at certain points one actually suspects that the film is intended to be comical. Perhaps this was more convincing on the printed page (it's based on Nigel Balchin's novel A Way Through the Wood), but you'll find it hard to keep the proverbial stiff upper lip watching this overheated melodrama that continually prompts you to laugh out loud. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director Julian Fellowes, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)