National Review, November 25th, 1996
PERMIT me to be totally unimpressed by Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies, which won the Golden Palm and International Critics' Prize at Cannes, as well as the Best Actress award for Brenda Blethyn. This is yet another of Leigh's forays into lower-class life in London, which the writer - director improvises with his acting company. Critics and audiences accord him raves that I do not begrudge, but cannot begin to endorse.
For one thing, large-scale improvisation strikes me as anti-art, and not only because I seriously doubt the literary capabilities of most actors. Of course if the idea is to repl...
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