Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

James Manning (Tom Wilkinson) is a moralistic London solicitor. He and his wife Anne (Emily Watson)'s housekeeper Maggie loses her husband after a hit and run while riding his bicycle. James had noticed a scratch on playboy Bill Bule (Rupert Everett)'s car. He accuses Bill who agrees to go to the police the next day. Then Anne confesses that she has been having an affair with Bill and was the one who was driving.The problem with the lie to the police is that James Manning is suppose to be a smart top lawyer. The first rule is shut up. There is no reason to lie for Bill's sake. Anne could always claim to not be the driver. Also it's hard to see why James would continue to fight for her. Whatever scandal that would arise from the truth would pale in comparison. These are powerful actors doing solid work. The basic problem is that I don't buy what James Manning is selling.

a delicate theme. and wise manner to explore it. delicate nuances. realistic levels of crisis. bitter slices of honesty. a fight. and the justice. a film who preserves the shadows of middle age. the dialog, the feelings, the need to be yourself, the other as wall and window. the marriage as cage because the pieces of another life style is answer of a long expectation. a film who could represent a splendid surprise. the acting, the script, the delicate science to explore the details. and the beauty of London who becomes more than stage/location of a drama who seems be more and more large and profound. a film about the options of an age. its results. its force. and the fragility of few people in search of happiness. short , a film about the roots of love.

If we could have "Separate Tables," why not "Separate Lies."This becomes somewhat involved. A housekeeper's husband is killed when he is hit by a car while on a bicycle. The culprit turns out to be the woman she cleans for. The latter was having an affair with a friend and was driving the car with the lover in it when the accident occurred. To complicate matters further, the housekeeper once worked for the guy's parents and he had her jailed for stealing. Therefore, people will hesitate to believe that it was his car that caused the accident. Sounds like she wants revenge.This all becomes convoluted. When our housekeeper discovers that her boss was driving the car, she recants her testimony much to the dismay of the officer who is working on the case.As if this isn't enough, several months later, our lover (Rupert Everett) becomes terminally ill and our lady (Emily Watson) leaves her husband (Tom Wilkinson) to care for him.The acting is quite good here despite the never-ending "Peyton Place" like theme. Tom Wilkinson, is a solicitor, who tries to protect his wife.The film is a good one, but we could have done without the terminal illness. O well, the marriage ended anyway.

I agree with other commenters that the acting was intense (life-like? depends on whose life it's supposed to be), but what irritated me most was the contempt of law.A cyclist is killed in a car accident. This certainly is a crime, but the police (embodied by a single black, and obviously contempted, officer) try to solve the case in vain. The titular Lies prevent that. And the second funeral, of the adultering "milord", seems to be of more interest than the first, the accident victim.I like cynical movies where sympathetic perpetrators win in the end, but here? I'd have preferred better police work (even with Miss Marple or such) that would have solved the case.