Interesting but strangely unsatisfying

Rating: 5/10 (13 November 2005)

I had not read any reviews or seen a trailer before watching the movie, so I was seeing it with an open mind. I suppose my overall impression was that it was an interesting concept, and it certainly held my interest throughout, but there were certain annoying details which grated a little:

First of all, the main character is supposedly from an Irish working class background, but speaks with an English upper-class accent, and it is never explained how this came about.

Although he's supposedly charming, you just don't see enough of him actually being charming to make it at all credible that his albeit naive wife doesn't realize he's having an affair.

He works in a company closely connected with his father-in-law yet somehow manages to get away with using his work as a series of excuses for his absence, despite having a secretary and a driver who must surely have realized he was up to something. Perhaps he was charming or bribing them but again we never see this explanation.

His mistress somehow fails to spot that he's using every cliché in the "man not really intending to leave his wife for his mistress" handbook.

The scene where the two policemen discuss their thoughts on the crime seemed incredibly unrealistic - Woody Allen could have done with watching some of the numerous cop shows on British TV to make this dialog less clunky. Overall, it's worth seeing, but I can't help thinking it could have been a whole lot better without much effort.