Film Openings

Week of October 19, 2005

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Separate Lies. (R) Lies beget lies and a seemingly perfect life unravels in the blink of an eye when a hit-and-run accident disrupts the lives of a wealthy British couple. James and Anne Manning (Tom Wilkinson and Emily Watson) -- he a respected solicitor, she a devoted housewife -- learn that their housekeeper's husband was run over while riding his bicycle. James suspects the next-door neighbor, an arrogant cad who believes that his privileged social position protects him from prosecution; after all, the dead man was working class. James is stunned to find that Anne agrees, and finds his whole life turned upside down as he must reexamine his priorities, his moral precepts, and his marriage. The directorial debut of screenwriter Julian Fellowes, Separate Lies may work better in England, because the film's underlying theme of class distinction is so ingrained in British society. Otherwise, some of the plot developments and character reactions border on ludicrous. Watson and Wilkinson, however, are always a pleasure to watch. (Oppenheimer) PF

Stay. "Between the worlds of the living and the dead," goes Stay's tagline, "there is a place you're not supposed to stay." Well, yeah. But try telling that to psychiatrist Dr. Leon Patterson (Bob Hoskins), whose new patient threatens suicide, forcing Leon to straddle that very line. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts star. (not reviewed) ARN, CPP, CGX, DP, J14, MR, OF, SP, STCH