British helmer
Stephen Poliakoff, the man responsible for 2003's acclaimed
The Lost Prince (about a young British monarch whom the regents locked away to hide his epileptic fits), returns with the feature
Friends and Crocodiles, starring
Damian Lewis (
An Unfinished Life),
Jodhi May (
The House of Mirth), and
Robert Lindsay (Bert Rigby, You're a Fool). The film opens in the early '80s, with
Lewis as Paul Reynolds, a slightly indulgent
succès d'estime in the business world who presides over a mansion full of hyper-eccentric
artistes. Reynolds hires a secretary, Lizzie (
May), to manage his affairs and keep his houseguests in reasonable order. The drama then traces the emotional landscape of Paul and Lizzie's employer/employee relationship (their ups and downs) over the following two decades, which myopically reflect the changes in the larger British corporate landscape. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide