The End of the Affair

Julianne Moore is luminous in her Oscar-nominated performance as Sarah, a woman unhappily married to staid government bureaucrat Henry (an as-ever-superb Stephen Rea). Two years ago, she engaged in a passionate wartime romance with Maurice (Ralph Fiennes), a writer, and vowed she would never be with another man. Now, Maurice and Henry have a chance meeting, and Henry shares his suspicions that Sarah is being unfaithful. The jealous Maurice, with whom Sarah inexplicably halted their affair, is compelled to privately hire a detective (Ian Hart) to determine who is the third man. Fiennes, rebounding from his The Avengers debacle, is back in The English Patient mode as the tortured lover, and director Neil Jordan's latest is the very model of a prestige film. Based on a classic novel by Graham Greene, it's British, boasts a distinguished cast, is mounted with a meticulous eye to period detail, and features a bit of sex amidst bombs bursting in air. Recommended for the talent and craft involved, but as the title indicates, this is pretty much a rueful affair. (K. Lee Benson)