Secrets and Lies (1996)

Quick ship - Perfect Condition

This is a classic movie - one most everyone should own. Anyone should be able to relate to something in the movie. It is so well directed and acted that I tend to get lost in the reality of the story. It would be a dis-service to applaud one actor over another. They were all at their best. Don't miss this. July 10, 2008

Beautiful Truth

"Secrets and lies! We're all in pain! Why can't we share our pain? I've spent my entire life trying to make people happy, and the three people I love the most in the world hate each other's guts, and I'm in the middle! I can't take it anymore!"

One of the most beautiful, heart-breaking, heart-warming, Truthful movies that I have ever seen. June 30, 2008

Great Sunday afternoon movie

As an adult adoptee, I found the premise of this movie really interesting (young woman decides to find birthmother, locates her, is surprised by what she finds - and there's much more to it) so I ordered it and sat down to watch it with my husband on a Sunday afternoon. It's a very well-written story (although some of the editing/direction is a little choppy)and very "real" - there's no fantasy world here. The acting is fantastic and very touching, accurately reflecting the upheaval (and fulfillment) that adoption reunions can bring. This is certainly not a comedy, it's a fairly heavy story, but emotionally fulfilling. June 2, 2008

Slow, "heavy", but worthy...

Hortense, a young black woman, loses her adoptive Mother and commences a search to find her birth mother. She learns that her birth mother is Cynthia, a single parent working in a stamping factory and just making things meet. The story grows when secrets and lies begin to come out - and explode during a birthday barbecue for Cynthia's 21 year old daughter.

Reviews describe this movie as "hysterically funny and profoundly sad". While there were flashes of humor in the movie, I would agree with the "profoundly sad" characterization and there was plenty of gloom to go around here.

The first 30-45 minutes of setting the stage were quite slow so hang in there as the storyline starts to become quite engaging. The casting and acting by/for all of the major characters is terrific - the psychological anguish is apparent from the get-go - and the cinematography is wonderful.

May 24, 2008

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent

The first time I heard of this movie was on Roger & Ebert when they were reviewing it and then I was able to see it on cable and was glued to the tv every time it came on. Loved the way the different stories were told and how they interwined at the "birthday party". The acting was excellent and it is great to watch other cinema besides the U.S. March 11, 2008

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