Intimate Relations . Nashville Scene . 03-23-98

Intimate Relations

DIRECTED BY: Philip Goodhew

REVIEWED: 03-23-98

Like Heavenly Creatures, if less effective, this British drama gives a perverse spin to the true story of murder in a '50s-era small town. First-time writer-director Philip Goodhew borrows from newspaper reports and classic film noir, while adding all manner of cold sarcasm, camp humor, and familial horror. Julie Walters plays a bored housewife named Marjorie Beasley, whose prim and proper manner barely conceals a desperate sexual appetite. She and her older husband Stanley (Matthew Walker) maintain separate bedrooms "for medical purposes"--her polite way of saying that she can't stand to be near him. Working part-time in a Laundromat, Marjorie jumps at the chance to take in a young lodger, Harold Guppy (Rupert Graves), and then wastes little time jumping into his bed. Soon, both mother and smitten daughter Joyce (Laura Sadler) turn to sexual blackmail as a means of keeping him around. Black humor abounds, but there's nothing funny about a grisly denouement that ironically made this "family" story an appealing film property. This is an outrageous, at times nasty piece of work, humanized somewhat by a cast that isn't afraid to break down and act up.

--Rob Nelson

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Intimate Relations

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