Category Archives: Marital Infidelity

2016, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Drama, Ethical struggles, Gay theme, Jealousy, Love Story, Marital Infidelity, Nostalgia, Nudity, Panic Attacks, Personal Betrayal, Sex Scenes, Talking Heads

Lazy Eye (2016)

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From IMBD:

When Dean, a graphic designer in Los Angeles, notices a sudden change in his vision, an ex-love from 15 years earlier contacts him unexpectedly in hopes of rekindling their relationship. When the two meet at a vacation house in the desert near Joshua Tree, secrets are revealed and passions rekindled that threaten to upend both of their lives. Forty-eight hours later, neither will ever be the same.

From Amazon Prime:

Passions reignite & hidden secrets revealed when a graphic designer in Los Angeles reconnects with an ex-lover he hasn’t seen or heard from in 15 years. Over the course of a weekend at a vacation house in the desert, they must determine whether or not they have a future together. Written and directed by Emmy, Gotham, GLAAD and Independent Spirit Award Nominee Tim Kirkman.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 27 minute complete film.

Basically the film uses the talking heads technique. Unless that talking is interesting such films can be dull. But there is something real and intense about the conversation between Dean and Alex. Between the mundane topics, now and then brutal honesty pops up.

So many films offer the same tired cliché: A meets B, they fall in love and have sex, difficulties arise and are solved, happy ending. This film is different but I offer no spoilers.  But the film is a testament to courageous choices.

Not bad.

2009, Adultery, Amazon Prime, Anti-Semitism, Art Treasures, Attempted Suicide, British, Could Be Sad, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Ethical struggles, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Father-son relations, Marital Infidelity, Nazis, Nudity, Womanizing

Joe’s Palace (2009)

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From Amazon Prime:

An empty London mansion casts a spell over an innocent young boy in this thought-provoking psychological drama.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 54 minute complete film. Incidentally, I found this film because Amazon suggests films that match films you have already watched, such as  “Dark River” which I discussed in my last review.

For most of this film I felt like a spectator in a “happening” of no particular importance.  Make no mistake, I found the details and characters fascinating. But always the question presented itself: But where is this all going?  Be prepared for a stunning and infuriating conclusion, as in “WOW!”

Venerable and famous British actor Michael Gambon plays perfectly a wealthy, brooding, lonely Elliot Graham. He hires young Joe Dix (played by Danny Lee Wynter) to be the doorman at one of Elliot’s perfectly maintained but uninhabited London residences. To my mind, the character Joe Dix is central to the story and steals the show. He presents a taciturn, uneducated, but principled young man whose mother found him this position. He speaks with a clipped lower class accent.

As a side character Rupert Penry-Jones plays the married womanizer Richard Reece having one of his many affairs with the also married Charlotte played by the beautiful Kelly Reilly.  As a side benefit to their subplot you can watch two “beautiful people” having quite a bit of sex.

DO NOT MISS!

 

 

 

2015, 2016, Abuse of Women, Adopted child, Adultery, Ambiguous Conclusion, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British, British Mystery Series, Cancer theme, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Cold Cases, Contract Killing, Corruption, Courtroom scenes, Depression, DNA, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Gay theme, Incest, Male Prostitutes, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Pedophilia, Personal Betrayal, Police cover-up, Police Politics, Prostitutes, Racism, Rape, Revenge, Romance, Sex with underage girls, Sister-sister relations

Unforgotten (2015)

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From Netflix you can stream the first two seasons of this excellent British cold-case series.

For the 6 45-minute episodes of the first season the plot starts with:

A skeleton found in the cellar of a building prompts investigation from DCI Stuart and her colleague into the murder of a young man that could potentially span back thousands of years.

For the 6 45-minute episodes of the second season the plot starts with:

Cassie and Sunny join together to investigate when a body is found in a suitcase when the river Lea gets dredged.

Although there are 5 seasons, I don’t know where to find the last three seasons.

In each season the plot runs as follows: First and foremost the challenge is to identify the victim. That process leads to a list of names associated with the victim. Each such name carries its own story. Eventually all the personal stories become entangled as the detectives struggle to make sense of the crime.

British crime series strike me as one big repertory group. You see the same actors over and over in different roles. If you want a list of those actors that keep reappearing, “Unforgotten” provides that list. Couple the list with the “Unforgotten” discussion in IMDB just in case you know you have seen that actor before but you just can’t remember who it is.

Both seasons are binge-worthy. DO NOT MISS!

 

2004, Acorn TV, Basically Sad, British, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional abuse, Extramarital Affair, Human spirit, Husband leaves wife, Marital Infidelity, Mother-son relations, Religious Theme, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Sister-sister relations

Belonging (2004)

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From Acorn TV:

Brenda Blethyn (Vera) and Kevin Whately (Inspector Lewis) are Jess and Jacob Copplestone, a married couple caring for his elderly relatives. But when Jacob leaves her, Jess must adapt to her new life. Based on the acclaimed novel and written by BAFTA winner Alan Plater (The Last of the Blonde Bombshells), this tale of love lost is a tender, perceptive, and humorous portrait of human endurance.

From Acorn TV you can stream this 95 minute complete film.

For years we have watched Brenda Blethyn play the detective DCI Vera Stanhope in which she is a crusty, emotionless older and not especially attractive woman.  However,  here as Jess Copplestone she comes across as a very attractive, long-suffering, unselfish and nice person.

For years we have watched Kevin Whately play Masterpiece Mystery’s Inspector Lewis as the successor to Inspector Morse   in which he is a standard detective.  Here he gets the chance to play the villain Jacob: a selfish, cowardly, middle-age man who leaves his wife for a younger woman whom he has gotten pregnant.  In this role he is very convincing.

Hats off to Rosemary Harris whose portrayal of Jacob’s mother May as a nasty, demanding “bitch” (as she is called in the film) is unpleasantly perfect.

WARNING: This is potentially a sad film in which you probably should not expect a happy ending.  When it started I thought “Oh, this is too painful to watch”. But when I started to leave, fortunately the wonderful acting held me like a magnet. Brenda Blethyn alone is worth the price of admission.

DO NOT MISS!

 

2018, Abortion, Abuse of Women, Adopted child, Adultery, Amazon Prime, Antique Cars, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British, British Mystery Series, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Clever Plot, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Illegitimate Child, Jealousy, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Revenge, Romance, Sex with underage girls, Sister-sister relations, Soap Opera, Stepchild, Unmarried mother

Ordeal by Innocence (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

When wealthy philanthropist, Rachel Argyll, is murdered at her family estate, her adopted son Jack is arrested for her murder. He vehemently protests his guilt and eighteen months later, the identity of the murder is thrown in doubt. Now it is up to the rest of the family to decipher a killer amongst them.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 3 episodes of this complete story. Each episode lasts about one hour.

Only at times did the drama seemed to drag a bit. But the plot and the characters are so well developed that we could not resist bingeing.  Have fun trying to spot the killer in this unhappy family in which the 5 children (all adopted) have all been mistreated by Rachel, their witch of a mother.

Several of the British actors may be familiar to you. Rachel, the murdered victim, is played by Anna Chancellor. Her husband Leo is played by  Bill Nighy.  Philip Durrant, the bitter son-in-law is played by Matthew Goode.

Included in the plot are one of the best pieces of revenge I have seen in a film.

For what it is worth, in the United States only Virginia prohibits the marriage of step-siblings.

If you are a fan of mystery soap operas, DO NOT MISS!

 

 

2009, Acorn TV, British Comedy, Comedy, Could Be Sad, Flirting, Marital Infidelity, Nudity, Office Love Affairs, Sight Gags, Somewhat trashy, Strange Ending, Witty dialog

Reggie Perrin (2009)

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From IMDB:

Reggie Perrin has a cushy job as head of innovation in a men’s body care products firm, but philosophically hates meaningless office life. He’s equally unhappy with commuting, his dull marriage, his parents, his colleagues and especially his cry boss Chris. Yet he never does anything about this life, even tends to help his hated significant others out of a pickle.

From Acorn TV:

This “finely balanced black comedy” (Guardian, UK) stars Martin Clunes as the title character, a midlevel corporate drone who finds himself in the throes of a midlife crisis. Based on the classic series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, this reboot was cowritten by the original series creator, and co-stars Fay Ripley (Cold Feet) as Reggie’s long-suffering wife.

From Acorn TV (all things British) you can stream the first season of this British comedy.  Each of the 6 episodes is approximately one half hour. There was a season two, but it is not available from Acorn TV.

Martin Clunes plays Doc Martin in that famous British TV series. Who knew he was also an effective comedian?  Every episode had us in stitches, especially his daydream sight gags.  He is, however, having a midlife crisis and I must warn you that the last and sixth episode of season 1 starts as comedy and ends as head-scratching sadness which left me with a sour feeling.

 

 

2004, Acorn TV, Amnesia, British, British Mystery Series, Detective, Failing Marriage, Forensics, Marital Infidelity, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Culture, Psychological Drama, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Suspense

Amnesia (2004)

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From Acorn TV:

Hailed by Variety as “fascinating” with “a top-notch cast,” this psychological thriller stars John Hannah (The Mummy) as DS Mack Stone, who, while searching for his missing wife, uncovers a possible murder masked by a claim of amnesia. But as Stone investigates, he begins to doubt his own memories. Co-starring Jemma Redgrave (Bramwell), Anthony Calf (New Tricks), and Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey).

From Acorn TV you can stream this 2 episode series. Each episode lasts about 75 minutes.

Chances are you will spend most of the 150 minutes as a captive audience  trying to decide who is lying, who murdered a wife, and who really has amnesia.

What a difference 14 years can make in a person’s appearance.  You will probably recognize the Scottish actor John Hannah (who played Batiatus in two Spartacus TV series),  Jemma Redgrave (a member of the famous family of actors) and Brendon Coyle (who played John Bates in Downton Abbey).

From the very beginning of the series you learn that DS Mack Stone continues to be traumatized by the disappearance of his wife and obsesses over not only his missing wife but also whether John Dean (played by Anthony Calf), who claims to suffer from complete amnesia about his past life, is really a wife-murdering serial killer. Also intimately involved in these problems is Brendon Coyle’s character D.C. Ian Reid.

Your own obsessing over what is really going on is time well spent watching this well-done story.

2017, Adultery, Crude Talk, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Emotional abuse, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Marital Infidelity, Mother-son relations, Nobel Prize, Wonderful acting

The Wife (2017)

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From IMDB:

A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Glenn Close’s role as “the wife” has been mentioned in relation to an academy award. Her performance actually gave me gooseflesh. Watching the facial expressions in her beautiful face for an hour and forty minutes was sheer pleasure.

Jonathan Pryce had the dubious success of offering an excellent performance as “the husband”. You have to see the film to understand what I mean. But I will not spoil the plot for you. Jonathan Pryce was familiar to me as, of all things, High Sparrow from “Game of Thrones”.

My heart went out to Max Irons as the suffering “son”.

DO NOT MISS!

2015, Abortion, Acceptable Trash, Adultery, B-movie, British, Crude Talk, Divorce, Drama, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Jealousy, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, Medical Theme, Melodrama, Middle school students, Mostly About Sex, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Revenge, School Teacher, Self-Deception, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Suicide, Teenagers

Doctor Foster (2015)

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From IMDB:

A woman suspects her husband of having an affair. After following several lines of inquiry far more unravels including a streak of violence below the surface

From Netflix you can stream two seasons of this BBC soap opera. Each season consists of 5 episodes. At this point (July 2018) it is uncertain as to whether there will be a third season, even though the ending of season two cries for a continuation of the story.

Make no mistake, these 10 episodes comprise nothing better than a sex-and-revenge fueled soap opera. Nonetheless, yours truly binged frantically from episode to episode long after my wife lost interest in “pure tripe.”  But I have never been ashamed to admit that “I Love Trash!”

If you watch much British TV, then many of the actors will be familiar faces.  Most probably you may recognize Suranne Jones, who plays the lead role as Dr. Gemma Foster, as one of the team of women police detectives in “Scott & Bailey” (which I heartily recommend).

If for no other reason than to enjoy watching one of the best revenge dinners I have ever seen, put this potboiler on your list of guilty pleasures.

2017, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Ambiguous Conclusion, Brother-Sister relations, Complicated, Confusing Plot, Corruption, Courtroom scenes, Detective, Drug Dealers, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Financial malfeasance, Illegitimate Child, Lawyers, Marital Infidelity, Missing Person, Mother-daughter relations, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Revenge, Romance, Small Town, Violent, Wales, Welsh detectives

Keeping Faith (2017)

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From Acorn TV:

Fun-loving Faith Howells is drawn into a mystery when her husband and business partner Evan (Bradley Freegard, EastEnders) disappears. He leaves for work, but never arrives. His sudden absence strikes deep into the heart of this tiny Welsh community and forces Faith to come back from extended maternity leave to defend a hopeless vagrant on shoplifting charges. As increasingly-desperate Faith searches for clues, she discovers new revelations about Evan’s private life and questions how well she really knows the man she loves. Also starring Hannah Daniel (Hinterland), Matthew Gravelle (Broadchurch), Mark Lewis Jones (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), and Aneirin Hughes (Hinterland).

From Acorn TV you can stream the 8 one-hour episodes of the only season offered.

“Mounting Frustration” best describes the progress of the series. Just when you think things could not get any worse for poor besieged Faith, they get much worse. Finally Kathy and I arrived at the eighth and last episode only to be rewarded with an ambiguous somewhat happy ending, which seems to beg for another season.

Too much time is spent in long-held motionless poses where we watch Faith suffer. Could the villainess be any nastier?  As plots go, this one is fairly complicated.

Just don’t expect justice to be served perfectly, and for all the heroes to live happily ever after.