Separate Lies: Thought-provoking Adaptation Lacks Emotion

Like the couples in most films these days, Anne (Emily Watson) and James (Tom Wilkinson) Manning are not a happy pair. Unfortunately, James is under the impression that they are, that is, until the death of a local man reveals another side to his beloved wife. This is the foundation for Julian Fellowes' directorial debut Separate Lies, but the overall tone and impact of the film are not what is expected.

As each piece of the story unfolds, we are surprised, but not shocked with the turn of events. This is because the film really lacks any dramatic tactic. It's commendable to try something different with the characters in this study of a disintegrating marriage, but in this case, that attempt falls on its face because we really don't like any of the characters.

Wilkinson, who played a similar role in 2001's Oscar winner "In the Bedroom," knows this role and plays it well. Watson is impish and yet mundane in her role, though. Likewise, her lover, Bill (Rupert Everett) is thoroughly uninteresting and perversely aristocratic. Given this group of individuals, it is hard to care about their relationships.

The film, which is based on the book A Way Through the Wood by Nigel Balchin and adapted by Fellowes, tries to surpass its weak characters with the subplot of a hit and run accident that kills the husband of Anne and James' housekeeper,Maggie (Linda Bassett). But this incident is just a minor bump in what is essentially a story about a man and a woman dealing with the end of their romance. Its sort of an odd choice in the script and doesn't quite work.

The complexity of their relationship is a strong point, however. James' behavior is difficult to reconcile when compared with the average wronged husband in the cinema, but in thinking about it, it's clear that his reactions to his wife's incredible carelessness and obvious wrongdoings are not so far from what an real-life man might do in his position.

Many times, as I watched Separate Lies, I found my preconceptions about how the couple might react, what direction the films would take, etc., were challenged. And in the end, I was left thinking about what it all meant.

Separate Lies is a complex, thought-provoking piece, but only on an abstract, intellectual level. It isn't really entertaining in the sense of being able to escape into a film and live vicariously through the characters. From start to finish, Fellowes keeps us removed from the characters. So while it is a film that might make you think a bit on the ride home, it isn't one that makes you feel much of anything at all.