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100It moves us on a human level, it keeps us guessing during scenes as unpredictable as life, and it shows us how ordinary people have a chance of somehow coping with their problems, which are rather ordinary, too.
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100Leigh is an artist not at all blind to the world's darkness and pain. But the generosity and togetherness he and his company show in Secrets and Lies is something the movies -- and the world -- truly need. [25 October 1996, Friday, p.A]
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100Represents the director at his best -- unsentimental yet powerful, funny and poignant, and, in the end, undeniably satisfying.
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100Leigh goes right to the core of his character's lives and mines the place where we're weakest, most alone and sometimes the cruelest.
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100Blethyn is so astonishing that you forget you're seeing a performance.
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100If film means anything to you, if emotional truth is a quality you care about, this is an event that ought not be missed.
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100Reveals itself detail by searing detail.
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100A magnificent melodrama that draws both tears and laughter from the everyday give-and-take of seemingly ordinary souls.
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100Leigh, the writer, ties up things somewhat neatly and is a touch homiletic. Leigh, the director of cast and camera, is masterly. [Sept. 30, 1996]
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100A masterful mix of wit and humor, sympathy and sadness.
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90The ride is remarkable.
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90A radiant, heartbreaking film.
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90There's not a weak performance in Secrets And Lies, a fact made more notable by the seeming ease with which the cast performs as an ensemble.
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90Breathtaking, heartbreaking.
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90By creating characters from emotional wellsprings rather than concepts, Leigh thrills us with the possibilities that emerge when people are merely in the same room.
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90Unfolds beautifully, with a rueful, knowing intelligence that rises above easy assumptions. [27 September 1996, p.C1]
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90The results are wondrous, wrenching and crazily funny to behold.
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90Rich in humor, pained or frolicking.
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90The acting is so strong--with Spall a particular standout--that you're carried along as by a tidal wave.
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88Leigh has a gift for demonstrating character from the outside in.
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Secrets & Lies is all about wounds and our tendency to embrace placebos rather than the harder courses of treatment.
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80So meticulously acted that you feel you're reading the characters' minds.
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75Crammed, cheek to jowl, with bleak moments, high hopes, sweetness and naked emotion.
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75A crowd-pleaser, all right, but, for all its appeal, a naggingly sanctimonious one.
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70Leigh at his best is a renderer of moments--the wisest and deepest observer, probably, among living directors.
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67Secrets & Lies, despite my dwelling on its problems, is a really solid and enjoyable movie. It's just not what I would call "best of the fest."
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60Unquestionably a finely observed, deeply felt work, though with some nagging problems in pacing and structure.
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Positive: 12 out of 12
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Mixed: 0 out of 12
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Negative: 0 out of 12
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ShaniceT10Phenomenal film! Brilliant screenplay, direction, and acting.
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