As good a movie as “Separate Lies” is – and it’s worth a look for any fan of British suspense – the commentary track points out the bonuses and the drawbacks of the now-mandatory director’s voice-over.
Writer and director Julian Fellowes talks nonstop from the opening scene, babbling enthusiastically and more than a little pompously about his admirable creation.
Early on, his insight can add to our appreciation of how a low-budget movie with big- name actors gets put together. When Tom Wilkinson greets his on-screen wife, played by Emily Watson, at a suburban London train station, Fellowes notes how the train pulling away never existed. Special effects put the commuter rail line into a scene when Fellowes couldn’t afford commissioning British transit for the perfect shot.
But Fellowes talks so much, he makes our appreciation of the fine acting in “Separate Lies” deteriorate into the pedestrian. One of the joys of the movie is watching Tom Wilkinson play a petulant husband who, deep down, is more decent than he appears. One glance at the gifted Wilkinson’s facial expressions tells us all we need to know: Fellowes doesn’t really need to say over and over that Wilkinson conveyed the emotion of his script with a single smirk. We already know.
No matter. Seek the “Separate Lies” DVD for the compact, absorbing movie itself, not for the meager extras.
As Fellowes points out, his movie’s opening shot sets up a falsely idyllic English scene. Rolling fields, tidy town homes, winding country lanes. And suddenly, before you’ve settled into your seat, a charming old man is knocked off his bicycle by a speeding car.
Living – and driving – in this suburban idyll are Wilkinson, Watson and playboy neighbor Rupert Everett. They all look guilty of something. Fellowes enjoys toying with his characters and our reactions to them: Just because someone is irritating, does that mean they’re capable of manslaughter?
As he did in scripting Robert Altman’s gem “Gosford Park,” Fellowes also dabbles in class issues. Are the rich less moral than their housekeepers? Is the prospect of continuing employment thicker than blood or water?
“Separate Lies” is one of those unexpected satisfactions that makes you look back on 2005 with fondness. When a film and an acting ensemble as accomplished as these don’t get so much as a whisper around Oscar time, it must have been a good year at the movies.
-Michael Booth
A not-so-sunny Cage
Other films out on DVD this week include:
“The Weather Man” ($29.95): Gore Verbinski’s film has laughs, but underneath it’s a slightly melancholy examination of midlife crisis that goes deeper than you expect.
An engaging Nicolas Cage plays Dave Spritz, a Chicago TV weatherman. He’s separated from his wife (Hope Davis), his kids are in crisis and he suffers from feeling he’s a disappointment to his father, an award-winning writer, Robert Spritz (Michael Caine).
Dave, like many 40-year-olds, is successful but not yet a grown-up. He’s apt to lapse into overuse of the F-word, like a frustrated child, when confronted with problems. He wants to do the right thing but is clueless as to what that is. He wants to be more – more to his family, more to his father, more than a silly TV personality.
“Domino” ($27.98): Loosely based on the life of Domino Harvey, the model-turned-bounty-hunting daughter of actor Laurence Harvey, Tony Scott’s film is as bizarre a trip as the character’s life.
Perhaps that was Scott’s aim. Played with verve by Keira Knightley, Domino is an elusive character. Two of the extras give that sense. One is an interview with the real Domino before her death last year from a drug overdose. The second, called “Bounty Hunting on Acid: Tony Scott’s Visual Style,” reveals how the director was more interested in using a rock ‘n’ rock style than exploring who Domino was.
“Rent” ($28.96): The translation of “Rent,” Jonathan Larson’s rock updating of “La Boheme,” to the big screen is fairly seamless if innocuous.
Chris Columbus’ version of the award-winning Broadway musical lacks pizazz but holds onto its core emotional moments as the bohemians of the East Village of the ’80s sing about AIDS, addiction, art and love.
-Rob Lowman, Los Angeles Daily News
NEW ON DVD
The Ice Harvest ** Call it “Wichita Noir,” or a tepid effort to replicate “Bad Santa.” Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack star as small-town businessmen ripping off $2 million from their mob- connected boss. The mood is howling wind, icy sidewalks and depressing strip bars as our anti-heroes try to stay alive long enough to leave town. Christmas-haters are fast collecting their own genre of movies. “Ice Harvest” offers watered-down meanness and only a few laughs, but will cheer those who prefer their tinsel draped over a shot glass or a pole-dancer. Stay home and rent a true spite-fest like “Bad Santa.” R; 88 minutes (Michael Booth)
Pride & Prejudice *** Few cliffhangers await us in an old gem like “Pride & Prejudice.” But there is a surprise in the performance of Keira Knightley, who invigorates this version of the Jane Austen classic. She immediately owns the wardrobe and the words, and seems to the manner – and manor – born. The best supporting turn of a strong crew goes to Tom Hollander as the ridiculous Rev. Collins. The bows and the curtsies of the romantic drama will make your neck sympathetically sore, but this version should assuage the faithful and please the newcomers. PG; 110 minutes (Michael Booth)
Where the Truth Lies * From casting to line readings, the talented Atom Egoyan makes unfathomable choices for this muddle of an alleged mystery. Alison Lohman plays – unconvincingly – a journalist in the 1970s sent to investigate a mysterious death close to the former comic duo of “Lanny and Vince” (Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth). We flash inexplicably between the 1950s and ’70s, past a lot of bad accents, gratuitous sex and laughable portrayals. Could be one of the flashiest and most expensive failures of the year. NC-17; 108 minutes (Michael Booth)
The Weather Man *** 1/2 Nicolas Cage plays a Chicago weatherman about to break into the big time with a national network. But his home life is falling apart, with struggles involving an ailing father, an angry ex-wife and needy children. Successfully walks the fine line between tragedy and comedy, and deserves to be seen. R; 98 minutes. (Michael Booth)
