Deserves points for Timothy Spall, whose solid performance is the main attraction , but there's the (once nagging, now obvious) feeling that, for all its attempts at being a serious story of alienation, with its explicit sex scenes, serious dialogue about emotions and a specialist selection of music played over scenes of drama, that its pretty conventional and uninteresting. Its a solid made film, but has little of reward, ending up as a bogstandard dramatic film rather than something profound.

"Not since Last Tango in Paris has a film so delicately explored the quiet unraveling of desire." - Ed Gonzalez

When this came out a big whoop-whoop was made about a couple of "real" actors (Rylance and Fox) getting naked and having actual sexual contact before the camera. Not much else is going on here, though... although it tries to make a few big statements about modern alienation and blah blah

The lovers barely look one another in the eye, let alone speak. An air of puritanism prevails. No one is having much fun. It's all a bit hair-tearingly ridiculous, but that doesn't mean the viewer, at least, can have some fun.