1/5 A labor of love to view for Anglophilic cine-masochists
  by APC Reviews (USA)
A turgid and banal melodrama set against the claustrophobic emotional lives of grubby Londoners, a pale depressed lot in gray and depressed circumstances, offset only slightly by several brief scenes of dramatically convincing and explicit rough sex. A labor of love to view for Anglophilic cine-masochists. Not worth more than a couple of dollars used. Rent it.

5/5 don't make no sense
  by Benjamin Ingram
...this movie was incredible, no scratches, case still in tact, i would definetely order from this person again...

5/5 Excellent
  by M. Murphy (Seattle, WA)
I just finished reading Hanif Kureishi's novella, which this is (very) loosely based on. Thank Gawd Patrice Chéreau greatly embellished and improved on the story which was myopic and depressing. In fact, the movie is positively upbeat and happy compared to the novella.

I don't know why audiences shy away from frank, honest depictions of hetero romance or male nudity but who cares. It's an excellent film, the two leads (Rylance and Fox) went through hell literally after this film was shown at the Berlin Festival in 2001.

If you see this, you'll understand why Rylance just won a Tony for his broadway show, "Boeing, Boeing" and you'll know why Kerry Fox is considered one of the best actresses in New Zealand.

3/5 Does not convey enough emotion
  by Reader (Boca Raton, FL)
Can a midlife crisis be fulfilled with sex alone? To save you time from watching this movie the short answer to that question is "no". Protagonists are Jay, divorced father of two young boys who not so long ago simple walked out on his family for no other reason but the fact that he was unhappy. Claire, his lover who he meets on Wednesday afternoons is married woman, an actress and a mother of a young boy. We do not know how these two met, but we do know that they are pulled to each other. Their sex is raw and immediate, there is not much foreplay. Jay does not even strike me as a good lover, his hair is receding, his nails are too long, his apartment where he and his lover meet and make love is appauling much like Claire's own husband. We see her husband who is a cab driver, well aware that his wife is "uneven" and quite tolerant of it becuase after all - he loves her. Both Jay and Claire have their dreams crushed. He is a failed musician, she is a failed actress. Their relationships with their family is strained one and it is not due to faults of their long suffering spouses or children. Both of them suffer from misery that is self imposed. Worse of all, they have no direction, goal or ambition; they simply drift thru life and the only way they feel intense is when they make love. But sex alone cannot sustain them and they both know it. They will have to find a better way to define themselves if they wish to rid of emptiness, unhappiness without cause and silent rage directed towards people around them. Until that happens both are hopelessly lost.

4/5 intense!
  by africaserengeti (new jersey (usa))
i gave this movie a 4 out of five stars because i never seen a movie like this b4 it didn,t explain how they got 2gether but the sex scenes where like wow! it started so fast after that then the movie got rolling they both were unhappy at home they both stayed because of children so it seemed but the way the husband found out was really sad but the main characters just had this unwavering need 4 each other no words just action until the end when he wanted her to stay but she couldn,t i wanted her to leave and stay with him but she had a son and children should always come first so as the 2 would say next wednesday then!