Rating: 
Summary: A triumph
Review: A mild-mannered, intelligent young black woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) tracks down her birth mother, Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn), who just happens to be white. That's only the central plot thread in Mike Leigh's very poignant, very funny, very smart family drama, which received well-deserved Oscar nominations for best picture, best director, best actress, best supporting actress, and best original screenplay. A keenly observed piece set in middle-class and upper middle-class England, "Secrets & Lies" offers such an abundance of riches it's hard to know where to begin.The plot is fairly simple, though the emotions beneath it aren't. Cynthia is initially afraid to meet the child she gave up years ago, but eventually opens up and discovers that her long-lost daughter, Hortense, is not only a sweet and refined young lady, but the possible source of the love and affection she wants so badly. She receives none of that sort of attention from her other daughter, Roxanne, a bitter, sharp-tongued council worker who, like her secret half-sister, was conceived out of wedlock. Adding to the tension is Cynthia's relationship with her brother, Maurice, and his socially ambitious wife, Monica. The latter is pained by her inability to have a child, and particularly despises Cynthia, who is able to bear children but, in Monica's mind, unable to provide them with the family environment and opportunities that she can. All of these threads converge at an afternoon birthday party, during which all the pent-up secrets and lies explode like a sequence of fireworks. Emotions are laid bare, the past is revealed, and finally, the film hints, the healing process can begin. A synopsis really doesn't do full justice to the sheer impact of this film. In fact, it's almost insulting--and irrelevant--to discuss plot at all. "Secrets & Lies" isn't about plot in the conventional sense; it's about people. Each character is a complex, fully realized human being, brought to life by superior acting. Brenda Blethyn in particular does a spectacular job, and her Cynthia emerges as one of the most hilarious, endearing, and noble human portraits I've ever seen captured on film. Marianne Jean-Baptiste has a less showy role, but she occupies it with equally genuine warmth and humility. The other performances are consistently excellent, with Timothy Spall (Maurice) and Phyllis Long (Monica), who play tortured but thoroughly sympathetic characters, among the standouts. The actors are complimented by Leigh's superb direction. Each shot has clearly been carefully thought-out, but the camera is so unobtrusive, so casually observing, that it lends "Secrets & Lies" an almost documentary-like feel. And yet, Leigh's compassion for all his characters leaks through every frame. One of the best scenes in the film takes place in a teashop, with Cynthia and Hortense sharing a first meeting that moves from initial awkwardness to humor and hilarity, to intense sadness and finally to catharsis and relief. The scene is an unbroken, unedited single shot lasting for nearly eight minutes, and Blethyn and Jean-Baptiste sustain the dramatic tension for that long without missing a beat. It is a seamless culmination of acting, writing, and cinematography, and represents (I think) one of the most remarkable and honest shots ever committed to celluloid. Therein lies the secret to the success of "Secrets & Lies"--every moment in the film feels real. That quality is aided by the fact that, as is the case in all of Leigh's other films, the screenplay is a collaboration between both writer/director and actors. The dialogue never sounds scripted or contrived because most of it has been improvised by the actors themselves; thus, it's no wonder that the characters all but leap off the screen, and that spending time with them is such an engaging and rewarding experience. Some have criticized the film's overly "happy" ending, claiming that it feels a bit too pat to be real. I disagree. The conclusion, though admittedly more optimistic a resolution than most conflicted families can expect, remains utterly true to the characters' personalities and backgrounds. Actually, Leigh trumps the notion that all films attempting to illuminate the human condition must be overly bleak and pessimistic. "Secrets & Lies" is not a fast-paced film, and at 152 minutes, it's quite long. It could have gone on for hours and hours as far as I was concerned. Mike Leigh has confirmed my long-held notion that American cinema could definitely learn a thing or two from the sure-and-steady British. Without a doubt, one of the best films, if not the best, of 1996.
Rating:
Summary: Sensational
Review: I didn't see this movie when it first came out, i waited till it came on Cable, and watched everytime it came on, and I love it so much, that I found myself working out to it, each time I saw different things, the actors, Timothy Spall one of my favorite actors and others did a very good job, I think its one of the best movies to view.
Rating: 
Summary: One Lie I Wish Filmakers Would Stop Telling
Review: I would be dishonest if I did not compliment Leigh and his cast on such beautifully acted roles interwoven in such a sweetly told story, but why on Earth do movie makers persist in using actors who so very obviously have two black parents to portray mixed race people? Jean-Baptiste's Hortense is superbly explored and bought to life, but as a parent of mixed race children I found it difficult to suspend disbelief in being asked to accept that she had a white mother (a sentiment echoed by many in the mixed race community). A trivial criticism most of you will cry, but this type of miscasting does a disservice to reality and serves only to propagate hypodescent myths regarding mixed race people.
Rating: 
Summary: Mike Leigh's most accessible, emotional film - just perfect
Review: I've seen a good number of Mike Leigh's films over the years, from early works like Bleak Moments and Abigail's Party to later indie hits like Life Is Sweet, Naked, and High Hopes, but THIS is his BEST, most perfectly realized film to date - from the pitch-perfect performances of the entire cast (due to months of exhaustive rehearsal to develop the each character no matter how small or large the role) to the understated, minimalist direction to the somber score to the conversational "script," SECRETS & LIES slowly builds until its cumulative effect toward the climax is one of the deepest emotional blows ever deliver on film - you feel as if you KNOW and LIVE with these people, so that they cease to be mere characters on screen and, well, like your own circle of family and friends - not always pretty, often messy, always brilliant, SECRETS & LIES deserves to be on DVD to a wider audience can share in its spell it casts over you. My only gripe is Fox's typically bare-bones DVD format - c'mon, NO commentary from Leigh on his creative process, NO insights from the cast, many of which went on to win a clutch of awards and crossover American work (Blethyn, Baptiste, etc.), NO featurette or DELETED scenes! The film itself is enough, I just wish there were a bit more to flesh out the entire experience.
Rating:
Summary: Leigh's greatest?
Review: Sit back and savour the genius of the master storyteller, Mike Leigh. In Secrets and Lies, Leigh draws incredible, multi-dimensional performances out of a talented cast headed by Brenda Blethyn and Timothy Spall; quite the finest performances I have seen in a Leigh film. There is no need for lengthy analysis here. As usual, the director does not aspire to grandeur, but simply presents his characters with utter sincerity and conviction, and allowing us to travel with them on their journies. The tension culminates in a brilliantly acted climax and a touching, low-key final scene reminiscent of that of his earlier, and inferior, Life is Sweet.
Rating:
Summary: Mike Leigh's Brilliant Depiction of Private Family Life...
Review: The film begins with the funeral of Hortense Cumberbatch's (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) stepmother. Hortense, a black successful optometrist, is highly curious about the identity of her birthmother as she has been aware since childhood that she was adopted. Through an adoption agency she receives the papers that prove the identity of her birth mother, which initially seems to be erroneous, as she appears to be white. Hortense then decides to take the big step to contact her birth mother whom she has never known for over thirty years.
The mother, Cynthia Rose Purley, (Brenda Blethyn) a chain smoking co-dependent anxiety ridden factory worker lives in the same council house, which her parents lived in as she nursed them to their death bed. Cynthia shares the house with her daughter, Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), who works as a street cleaner. The relationship between Roxanne and Cynthia is strained as Cynthia is clinging onto Roxanne through questions and continuous hassle. Roxanne is also spoiled by Cynthia's younger and successful brother Maurice (Timothy Spall) and his wife, which seems to add strain between Cynthia and Roxanne.
Secrets & Lies is a wonderful film that projects a family's lack of communication and difficulty in understanding one another. Mike Leigh touches the very essence of humanity as the family avoids the difficult issues through white lies and tiny secrets. The family creates several little fabrications that have been complied over several decades and when Hortense appears she functions as catalyst for the truth. It should be mentioned that the secret of Hortense is only a minor part of the all the secrets.
The intimate direction of Mike Leigh creates an authentic family atmosphere that is brought to the audience as if it was the audience's own family. This generates a genuine feeling within the audience as the story unfolds. The cast performs brilliantly as they enhance the cinematic quality of the story. Brenda Blethyn performs as Cynthia with real conviction, and she received the reward for best actress for this part in Cannes in 1996. Ultimately, Secrets & Lies offers a truly brilliant cinematic event that touches the soul as the characters exorcise the family demons.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful emotional experience
Review: This film is possibly the most emotionally powerful film I have ever seen. I have never cared more for a group of characters as I did for those in "Secrets and Lies." Director/writer Mike Leigh is famous for giving his actors the outlines of their characters and having them improvise most of their lines. This technique succeeds brilliantly here - you feel as if you're a part of these people's lives. All the actors turn in wonderful performances - Brenda Blethyn as the long-suffering poor single English mother, Marianne Jean Baptiste as a young black girl in search of her natural parents, Claire Rushbrook as Blethyn's rebellious daughter, and Phyllis Logan as Blethyn's well-to-do yet frustrated sister in law. At the center of it all is a monumentally understated performance by Timothy Spall, who as Blethyn's brother attempts to hold everyone's lives together as they face the pain of their ordinary existence. A truly moving film that is one of the best ever.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful emotional experience
Review: This film is possibly the most emotionally powerful film I have ever seen. I have never cared more for a group of characters as I did for those in "Secrets and Lies." Director/writer Mike Leigh is famous for giving his actors the outlines of their characters and having them improvise most of their lines. This technique succeeds brilliantly here - you feel as if you're a part of these people's lives. All the actors turn in wonderful performances - Brenda Blethyn as the long-suffering poor single English mother, Marianne Jean Baptiste as a young black girl in search of her natural parents, Claire Rushbrook as Blethyn's rebellious daughter, and Phyllis Logan as Blethyn's well-to-do yet frustrated sister in law. At the center of it all is a monumentally understated performance by Timothy Spall, who as Blethyn's brother attempts to hold everyone's lives together as they face the pain of their ordinary existence. A truly moving film that is one of the best ever.
Rating:
Summary: touching and realistic and simply incredibly little gem
Review: This is a little known but absolutely wonderful film that, corny as this sounds, deserves to be shared by many.A small film about a family and the small day to day trials and tribulations they go through.It's very realistic and deals with the the most average everyday things.What makes this film so amazing is how it is able to present this window into the lives of this group of people with such wit and insight, sadness and honesty; ultimately resulting in a film which is tender and uplifting and hopeful. Tha acting is simply awesome. No other words to put it.Everyone from Brenda Blethyn to Timothy Spall to Marianna Jean Baptiste, to Claire Rushbrook, all take turns stealing scenes in performances that are so natural and on point that at times, it doesn't even feel like they're acting. This is true acting that cuts straight to the heart.The script is wonderful in that it provides so many little details that one wouldn't think to include in a movie. Just the smallest things which somehow bring the characters to life. A wonderful film that is never going to get any acclaim because this is all about the actors.No special effects or halle berry sex scenes. No way-this is an actor's film.And they steal the show.If you have taste in REAL cinema, do not miss this gem of a movie.IT IS SIMPLY WONDERFUL.
Rating:
Summary: highly recommendable
Review: This movie about family secrets is wonderfully funny and touching at the same time, very entertaining, how a black girl, well educated and wealthy, finds out about her real mother. That one is a white frustrated working class lady, who first cannot accept the truth. Thrilling how all the family secrets are finally unveiled. A film for all ages.
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