Bad Manners

This should not be the question. The writer's intention was to characterize four different types of people and the opinions they have about each other. Who believes whom? Who trusts whom? And who is lying? And why? The German title of the movie means „Little Lies Among Friends` in English, which hits the nail on the head: This story is a small, even a little sadistic view on interhuman relationships and how they are easily destroyed by secrets, lies and misunderstandings.

I really enjoyed the movie, although it's easy to see that it was a play originally; the constellation of characters reminds very much of Albee's „Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?` and many dialogues are longer than usual in movies. Of course, „Bad Manners` lacks Albee's brilliance of language and his mental brutality, but it's a creative approach. Especially David Strathairn's character is very interesting because it's the most unpredictable one.