Secret Life: more reviews

More reviews of Matthews performance from the weekend papers. Read the full articles via the links.

 The Scotsman

Macfadyen was brave to take on Charlie; some actors would surely be devastated at learning they could pass for a child molester. He allowed his good looks to be subsumed by a potato face of guilt and despair, to the extent some may forget he was ever a spyworld hunk in Spooks or breeches-clad beefcake in Pride And Prejudice. Compensation should come in the form of awards.

The Observer

There is no acceptable face of child sex abuse, but Matthew Macfadyen's sorrowful blue eyes and nice manners invited us to the brink of an unholy empathy in Rowan Joffe's courageous drama Secret Life, the story of Charlie, a convicted paedophile released under licence after six years of rehab....If you half-closed your eyes, Macfadyen could have been handsome Mr Darcy snogging Keira Knightley, but when you opened them again he was in the chemist's gazing at a 12-year-old. Charlie fled the scene, but he couldn't flee his thoughts....