Chairs set row upon row, back and sides, unoccupied in shadows suggest the action of Honour is a trial. Still, famous writer George (Martin Jarvis, trying hard to be winning) never really makes anything but a selfish case for leaving his wife Honor for a younger woman. No matter how cunningly she (Natascha McElhone as Claudia, with claws) flirts when she comes to interview him, nor how beautiful and assertive she is. No way does his offer to give his wife half of most of their belongings appear generous. For Honor (dignified Diana Rigg), who was an acclaimed author when she married, has sacrificed professionally as well as personally to bolster him. Out of love and a sense of duty, she has kept their home, contributed to his work editorially, and let him shine in the eyes of their daughter. When she agreed to be interviewed about him by Claudia, little did she know she was being set up. She did realize Claudia's ambition, since she once had much of it. But Honor wasn't ruthless. She was a woman of her times but is now in her 60s, and it's a different era.
Few theatrical moments hit with such force as those just after George tells Honor he's leaving her. Rigg grasps herself as if trying to realize she exists. Her eyes blur. A quiver escapes. So he still loves her "like a wife," but it's no longer enough. He actually cries. Middle-age crisis for sure, but George denies it or that it's all about another woman. What he has lacked lately with Honor is "passion."
So that's a case? After her sacrifices, her helping and putting up with him. No wonder she thinks at first that he's ill. Later she can't get him to accept duty, moral responsibility. How could deep feeling just vanish?
Daughter Sophie's no consolation to Honor. In Georgina Rich's portrayal, she's accusative, finding her mother "always the martyr." There must be something wrong if her father's seeking sex with a woman almost her age. One consolation: she's learned the lesson of never making the kind of sacrifices her mother did.
Rich's high point is her confrontation with the cool Claudia, who proclaims her "passion" for George, to Sophie's envy.
When the new lovers live together, things change. Claudia's not quite the journalist George admired so. Not yet, at least. Disappointing for her. Like George's latest book. Director David Grimley sees to it that the irony isn't missed, especially as Honor's return to publishing is mentioned. In regard to his handling of the trial motif, though, early on, it's a closed case.
