StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Patricia Looweedjiccabumpski The hired boy's daddy was strict, but he didn't mind loaning out his mallet to love-crazed young George (played by David Morrissey who, perhaps scarred by this very film, went on to marry Sigmund Freud's great-granddaughter in real life) who thought Alma (Helen Mirren) was "living with" (slang for engaging in marital relations with) her elderly, ill husband "Rats" (the late great Harry Andrews)just after having several weeks of mad "living" with young George and declaring mutually sudden eternal love. The besotted young handyman took the mallet(three thwacks)to old Rats's non-threatening, dozing dome and finished him off nattily, sending both shellshocked-but-innocent Alma and his unrepentant self to court. Alma, wife and mother of two young sons,has marched to her own drummer and deemed the mad, impetuous fling to commence when Houseboy George, washing her bedroom window, sees a pair of those full, loose, glossy satin '30's undies (green with beige lace)lying on her unoccupied bed and enters the room, picks the seductive undergarment up, cuddles it, sits down on the bed and begins to tremble fitfully, until Alma conveniently enters and assesses the lust-o'ercome state of her personally chosen hired boy (tall, muscular, sexually viable). Alma begins to stroke his shivering frame and ignites the affair, ignoring signs of extreme jealousy and instability in her ardent young swain. She dresses divinely, takes him on a spree to a London hotel, and seems impervious to their extra-marital romps and tiffs (born of George's increasing jealousy) taking place within easy earshot of both ill-fated husband "Rats" and the stoic, uncritical mother's helper, Irene. David Suchet, as Alma's canny barrister (quite good-looking he is sans Poirot mustache), has the job of crafting a defense for a woman who wants none. George is determined to pay the price for this "great love," and all his fine barrister (played by Oliver Ford Davies, the marvelous character actor of many a suspenseful production)can do is play on his youth and corruptibility in the grip of female wiles. I shall not spoil the very (bitter) end to this rather odd-but-true drama, except to say the three strikes causing an additional death do seem impossibly brought about. How could she do it THREE TIMES? I shall leave you with that. This is finely acted dramatic fare - better than anything you'll see on your tube now in these lean dramatic days.

muteperiod Mirren is excellent, Suchet in a minor role is excellent, and wait until you hear his spoken English for a terrific contrast with his Poirot...helps you appreciate his acting ability. This 1987 t.v. movie is presented in one part, but there is an obvious editing break right at the halfway mark for it to have perhaps been originally shown in two parts. It opens outdoors on a 1030's London street. One immediately notes, and appreciates, that it was filmed using video. The entire movie is filmed on video tape and it avoids the jarring effect so common in earlier t.v. mini-series and movies which were filmed on the set using video and the outdoor scenes were made on film. Production is quite satisfactory with details of the interior designs of the house, and of the house itself, all period correct. The house is very appropriate for a once-successful middle class architect. Decorative pieces through the house add interest and are very appropriate. However, filmed on video, one is always aware we are watching a set. Still the set has a most satisfying mix of arts and crafts with art deco. The acting is very good all around, as are the costumes, sets, and photography, all adding a texture to this drama based on a true story. Good direction does service to the fine script which does not present the story in a dry straight forward narrative. I do fault the script in being so lacking in details of the young man's home life. We know he lives 30 minutes away on a bicycle, needs a job at during hard times, is 18 and tall, making him look older than he is, few friends, can drive, and his father is very strict. That is about it. We never see a member of his family or any scene of him at his home. The script is rich with subtleties, and who actually did what is answered when Mirren is question during the trial, in a subtle way. If Poirot was there he would be repeating it at the end explaining who did the dastardly deed indeed! However, it is up to you, (as this is not an Agatha Christie formula story), to figure out who did what. You are never clearly told. The answer I assure you is there. If you like Prime Suspect for Mirren, or Poirot for either Suchet or just the period art deco apartment interior, or both, I highly recommend Cause Celebre. Video: 1:33, few minor smear defects from original use of video, otherwise, sound and image is fine. No English subtitles, which I found needing occasionally.

nancinger As usual, Helen Mirren has it all wrapped up. I knew it would be great when she goes from smiling to weeping in the course of 10 seconds at the piano scene near the beginning of the film. Amazing how she does that. THis character seemed lighter than most of the characters she plays--but underneath you know that she is suffering and drowning in her despair from the very beginning. You think that the woman is hopelessly flawed because of her seemingly superficial need for money and status, and for her interest in a much younger man. Then you realize she is playing such a complicated character that you can't even imagine how she did it. Helen mirren. Amazing.

artzau Is it any wonder that the Brits kick our butts when it comes to putting out good theater? Look at this cast: Helen Mirren, David Morrissey, Harry Andrews and David Suchet in a pre-Hercule Poirot role as a barrister. The story based on a defense of a woman's (Mirren) live-in handy-man lover (Morrissey) who violently kills her elderly impotent husband (Andrews). The barrister mounts a defense of how this younger, naive man misinterpreted the woman's involvement with him. The case takes strange twists as the woman winds the unwilling other victim whose only crime is one of indiscretion. Fine, fine acting and a gripping, well-written drama. I'm amazed it is not available on video. If it rolls around on PBS, be sure to check it out.