His Secret Life (2001)

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

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.

This is a movie about people who are unusually kind to each other. I have not seen this side of gay life properly depicted before in movies. Back in the 70s, bands of gays and other sexual outliers would band together. The idea was very much one for all and all for one. The exclusion from general society and family made the bonds all the stronger.The movie also shows a very motley crew totally enjoying each other's company. You see them from all sides, not just high camp, but serious, happy, angry, in despair ... as well. It made me feel sorry for straight people living alone in their decorator mansions.The movie is subtle. It avoids Hollywood moments, while still taking you into unexpected places. It behaves with the tentativeness of real life rather than the decisiveness of a typical movie.It is a seductive movie, starting by showing each character in their worse light. Gradually you come to love them and care about them and to forgive their faults.

What I believed to start off as a Lifetime TV movie, 'His Secret Life' thoroughly surprised me. We begin with Antonia (played by Margherita Buy, a Meg Ryan/Dee Wallace crossover) losing her husband to a traffic accident. Now if you can get by the hilariously bad death scene (I had to rewind 2x to make sure I saw that…that strange scene of the husband flying back and forth), you're in for a great treat. She learns of (insert title here) and seeks out the other woman. Now, not to spoil anything (the set up I just gave is in the first 10 minutes or so, and the title/box cover gives away the following) but the other woman turns out to be another man and Antonia develops a strange, but unique friendship with him and his family of friends. Within seconds, the director/writer of 'Life' actually develops a believable group of close-knit friends/neighbors and you easily get drawn into their world. Bravo to the authenticity that's created and the reasons Antonia sticks around. When her husband's life ended, her life officially began. Now, unlike the previous fear I had this would turn into a Lifetime movie-of-the-week, this had such a real feel to it (all the way to the closing) that it outshined a lot of "coming-to-terms" movies, such as 'Under the Tuscan Sun.' (Side note: I did like 'Sun' but it was a lot more Hollywood than this feature.) All the actors were excellent in their roles, but Buy outshined the rest. You can see her transformation into a world she was inadvertently thrust into, her acceptance of a lifestyle she only all-but read about in text books (she's an AIDS doctor, but apparently never got to know (some of) her patient's lives.) Highly recommended little gem.

Antonia (Margherita Buy) and Massimo (Andrea Renzi) have a perfect petit bourgeois life : fifteen years of marriage, living in a wonderful house by the lake, having no children by option, their lives looks like a fairy tale. One day, while crossing the street , Massimo is killed by a car. Antonia accidentally finds a picture called `Le Fate Ignoranti' with a dedication from a lover in its back. Antonia begins to investigate and finds that the lover is indeed a gay, Michele (Stefano Accorci), living in a gay community. Her husband had had a double life along the last seven years of his life. Antonia feels a kind of attraction for those persons, specially by Michele, maybe trying to understand her husband feelings, and in the end, becomes a new woman, like phoenix. Although being a gay movie, with a gay director and environment, this story is very sensitive and unusual. There is no cliches, it is not corny and the cast is sharp. I liked very much, but I also recognized that it is indicated for a very specific audience. The beautiful Margherita Buy has a magnificent performance, as a woman who sees her perfect world ruining twice after the death of her husband. My vote is seven, but maybe this film deserved a better rating. I did not expect such a different story.Title (Brazil): `Um Amor Quase Perfeito' (`A Love Almost Perfect')

I didn't know what to expect about this movie but it made for a very enjoyable evening. A lovely story, wonderful characters and superb acting. Forget all that cliche'd Will and Grace stuff, or Queer as Folk... these guys seemed like real human beings, 3-dimensional with feelings and humanity.I hadn't seen any of the actors before which also made it seem very real somehow, and some of the scenes were so tender that my eyes filled with tears. The people seemed to really care for each other, they felt able to show their feelings. No violence, no explicit sex - just guys being affectionate to each other. A really lovely movie!