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Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I wonder of some of the other reviewers and I saw the same film. While this film had great visual beauty it was slow as molasses. That isn't always bad if one feels involved in what is going on on screen but that was not the case here. It seems that many reviewers blame Paul Bettany's character's weak will and Bonham Carter's character's lack of moral compass for their affair. I don't think this is the case. For one thing I have never known love to be something one can feel or not feel at will. For another, Olivia Williams' Madeleine seems to have lost her passion for her husband at least by the time the affair is revealed to the audience. Did anyone not notice her (literally) turning a cold shoulder when her husband comes to kiss her at her dressing table? Did anyone notice the challenge in Bettany's voice when, after the affair is discovered, he kisses Williams and tells her that this is what she has coming back to her revealing the lovelessness (at least physically speaking) that would likely have doomed their marriage regardless of outside influence?Carter does not, for me, possess the kind of fatal beauty that would make her character irresistible to a happily married man and I don't think the film intends for us to feel that way about her. Williams is much more classically beautiful and if the sister character (Carter) had been supposed to be a femme fatale then the roles of sister and wife would have been better switched. It was love that brought the husband and sister together not just a submission to passion by two morally weak characters. Yes, something can be said about the sister allowing herself to be in such a position. She might have decided that, love notwithstanding, the great wrong was not necessarily being with a married man but being unfaithful to her own sister. Still, it seems clear that the marriage was an empty one anyway with only the couples' love for their doomed son giving them much reason to continue the charade. Remember too, that their daughter was the product of angry assault and not the result of a resumption of regular marital relations.With all that juicy plot substance going for it I still think the film was a dismal failure. Very little exploration of Bettany and Carter's life together and despite the fact that the war plays a big part in Bettany's character's demise there was very little sense of the times for the part of the film that takes place before and during the war. I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone except hard core fans of the leads (and Eleanor Bron who was so great in "Help)and as a chance to see more of Olivia Williams who deserves better than the clunkers ("Born Romantic","The Postman","To Kill A King") she's appeared in. Of course, she has also done episodes of "Van der Valk" which I would love to see but which, it seems, will never come out on video or DVD.

This exquisitely crafted film is much better than what we have heard it was. The film has an incredible texture, but of course, it's not for everyone. Director Thaddeus O'Sullivan presents this story of love and betrayal with a style that is surprising. The material in which this film is based is the novel by Rosamond Lehmann, that shows a slice of the life in London among the upper classes in the 30s, prior to WWII and adapted for the screen by Lucinda Coxon.The story of this love triangle involves Madeleine, a young society matron, married to Rickie, a successful bank executive. They entertain lavishly; it's obvious they know the right people, as it shows in their lavish parties. Dinah, Madeleine's sister is a loose cannon. She is a young woman who couldn't care less about being int the right places, or to mix with the right crowd.Dinah and Rickie begin an affair. Rickie agonizes about the situation and how to handle it. Madeleine never gets a hint until Rickie reveals his intention of leaving her. Madeleine, without Rickie will lose it all, her status in society and all the other little perks. But she is not prepared to accept the idea that Dinah is the one who has lured Rickie away from her. The relationship among the three principals will never be the same.Helena Bonham Carter plays Dinah with abandon. She's a no nonsense actress and she clearly gets into her character's skin. Olivia Williams is a staid and shocked Madeleine. Ms Williams is a beauty that epitomizes the type of English society woman naturally. Paul Bettany is convincing as Rickie, the man torn between love and duty. Eleanor Bron makes an excellent Mrs. Burkett.

First off, let me admit that I didn't make it to the end of this film. I love costume drama, I'm a fan of Helena Bonham Carter, but this film was too slow even for me. Yes, it had its moments of visual beauty, but the story dragged and the characters were unengaging. Paul Bettany plays - or at least recites the lines of - Rickie, object of desire for two women. One woman is his wife, Madeleine, played by Olivia Williams. She's the sensible, more conventional one. We know this because she says very little and grows flowers. Helena Bonham Carter plays the arty, bohemian sister, Dinah - easily identifiable as a bohemian type because her clothes don't fit properly, her hair is uncombed and she wears too much dark eye make-up. Yes, it's that stereotypical. I was so disappointed. I expected much better of this film, but it was formulaic and unconvincing. I left not long after the affair between Dinah and Rickie was discovered by Madeleine. So she knew about it. Yes, we knew she knew. But when I couldn't find it in my heart to care what she did about it, I knew it was time to give up on this film. It could, however, be marketed as the ultimate cure for insomnia.

Here is an exquisite, delicately told tale of frustration, repression and deception told about two sisters, the wife and lover of the same man, through the 1930s and 40s England. Although from time to time, the plot wanders toward the predictable and the sentimental and the script could have done with some more acerbic wit, you simply cannot take your eyes off the protagonists, particularly the two leading ladies. Helena Bonham Carter and Olivia Williams show how to perform with perfect pitch the same sort of roles that Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and especially Julianne Moore trashed with overacting hyperbole in The Hours (although they were actualy models of restraint compared to Ed Harris - I couldn't wait for his character to throw himself out the window). They are ably supported by Paul Bettany and the wonderful Eleanor Bron.This is not a movie for the 18 - 24 year old male demographic of course, but it will hold every intelligent viewer for its full 96 minutes (how wonderful - a moview well under 2 hours edited with self restraint).