If he's not careful, actor Rupert Graves (who won the 1996 Montreal Film Festival best actor award for this role) is going to be typecast as the sexual deviant of choice in any movie where such a character's "services" are needed. While the satire's there, however, it runs full steam and skewers the time when people referred to sex as "intimate relations" (hence the title), and the plot, dialogue and acting are all top notch. While it loosely follows the actual outcome of the true story, the film loses its wicked approach that satirizes the sterile, "Leave it to Beaver" norms, and instead delves straight into obsessive, psychotic behavior. OUR TAKE: 5 out of 10 Based on true-life events that shocked Britain in the 1950's, "Intimate Relations" is a black comedy that runs out of steam before reaching its inevitable, but still shocking conclusion. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For disturbing sexual situations, a scene of related violence and some language.ĬAST AS ROLE MODELS: None of the cast members play characters who most parents would consider to be good role models. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? It's doubtful, unless they've heard something about this film, and only then it will be older teens who'd probably want to see it. Harold finds himself in an awkward position, and tries to break free, but Marjorie and Joyce blackmail him into staying with them causing an already explosive situation to become even more combustible. It's Joyce who becomes the problem, though, as her awakening sexuality peeks her interest in what her mom and Harold are doing, and she soon threatens to tell everyone if Harold doesn't spend time with her. Soon he begins to enjoy his situation although he and Marjorie attempt to keep their affair a secret from Stanley. He can't believe this is happening, especially when Joyce crawls into bed with them, but Marjorie is determined. So the Beasley's take him in as a lodger, and soon Marjorie's trying to seduce him. When Harold Guppy (RUPERT GRAVES) returns to town after a long absence, he hopes to stay with his brother, Maurice (LES DENNIS) and sister-in-law Iris (ELIZABETH McKECHNIE), but they don't want to put him up. Stanley still relives his service in WWI where he lost a leg, and spends the rest of his time at the local pub drinking away his sorrows since he and Marjorie - his model housewife and professional seamstress - are no longer romantic. PLOT: Marjorie (JULIE WATERS) and Stanley Beasley (MATTHEW WALKER) live a typical suburban life in 1950's England with their thirteen-year-old daughter, Joyce (LAURA SADLER). QUICK TAKE: Black comedy: A lodger must deal with the affair he's having with a middle-aged woman while keeping her teenage daughter from telling her father.
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