"Again, if you string together a set of speeches expressive of character, and well finished in point of diction and thought, you will not produce the essential tragic effect nearly so well as with a play which, however deficient in these respects, yet has a plot and artistically constructed incidents."

--Aristotle, Poetics Ch. VI

"Secrets and Lies" certainly gets high marks for wonderful acting, with many a cathartic moment between its long-suffering characters. But unfortunately its plot is worthy of a Lifetime movie. A young black optometrist learns that she is adopted and must adapt to meeting her white working class birth mother and her half-sister. Throw into the mix the birth mother's estranged photographer brother and the cause of their estrangement, his wife, and you have a basic recipe for an afternoon of mutual soul-searching and emotional release.

The movie is not bad for what it is. I especially enjoyed the scenes of the photographer at work, where you could really see how much of a craftsman he is and how much he enjoys his profession. Also worth looking at is the beginning of the barbecue scene--through a bunch of quick and seemingly mundane exchanges as the food is served a whole lot is exhibited about each of the characters in a very short time.

The worst part of "Secrets and Lies" is by far the ending, where the filmakers try to tie together all of the loose ends in one quick moment of sobbing and hugging. But where it really goes wrong is when the photographer's secretary, who up until now has not said much of anything, suddenly reveals that she wishes her father had treated her better. At this point, it seemed like the filmaker just let go of all the strands of the story, and tried to cover for it by just piling one emotion on top of the next. Yet another contemporary problem that could be avoided simply by reading Aristotle . . . .

5/10

"The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" chronicles, with "United 93" style shaky camera realism, what is probably the last night of a 62 year old Romanian man's life. For the first forty-five minutes or so we see him waiting in his dingy, cat-infested apartment for an ambulance to arrive. For the remaining hour and a half, he is shuttled around from one hospital to the next by a kind but world-weary paramedic. As he sinks deeper and deeper into delirium, each hospital finds one reason or another to send him to the next one--they are too busy, he can't fill out the proper forms, and so on.

"Lazarescu" has been billed as either a dark comedy or a satire, but really it is neither. The reasons he is turned down at each facility, though troubling, are mostly understandable. There has been a large bus accident the same night, which explains (though it certainly does not justify) why he is treated thus, and why most everyone he runs into is in such a crummy mood. For example, when the doctor at the first hospital treats him in a cruel and unforgivable manner, we appreciate some of the cause of this when we see the line of patients stretching down the hallway. Or when, in another scene that is hard to watch, some nurses and the parademic bicker about their status, ignoring Lazarescu as he wastes away, we can feel how tired and overworked all of them are.

That it leaves it to us to judge these things is to the movie's credit. It would have been easy to make the whole situation into a satire, but the story really maintains a sympathetic neutrality toward everyone involved all throughout. It is rare to see a movie with this sort of balance.

8/10