Their love spurred an international affair

A United Kingdom stars David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike as an interracial couple in the midst of a political storm.

For most American audiences the story of the romance between Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams will be an unfamiliar one. The two met in Britain in 1947 when Khama was preparing to assume the tribal throne of his people in Bechuanaland, now Botswana and, at the time, a British protectorate. Their interracial relationship become ensnared in global politics, both in Britain and in Khama's homeland.

The British, who had multiple interests in the region, were very much against a high-profile, black/white relationship at a time when South Africa was instituting its odious apartheid policies. Not that the British, a people well-schooled in colonialism, needed an excuse for racism.

Aside from the freshness of the story, the movie seeks to score by casting David Oyelowo as Khama and Rosamund Pike, as Williams.

Oyelowo, who also produced, gives the movie a solid moral center. Loving and patient, his Khama believes that he can win the confidence of his people when he returns to Africa.

As portrayed by Pike, Williams may not know exactly what she's in for, but she clearly loves Khama, and wants to make a life with him. As time passes, she makes a sincere effort to win over resistant Africans. She's an ordinary woman who, under different circumstances, might have led a typical English life as a wife and mother.

Director Amma Asante (Belle) brings a solid, conventional style to Guy Hibbert's screenplay, but unlike Hibbert's tautly compelling Eye in the Sky, United Kingdom tends to drift toward dullness without quite surrendering to it.

For the most part, the British come across as cruel imperialists (including an unseen Winston Churchill). Tom Felton embodies the British attitude of entitled indifference to Khama's pleas.

The African characters show the opposite side of the racial coin. Khama's sister (Terry Pheto) resists accepting Williams for a long time, as does his aunt Ella (Abena Ayivor).

Vusi Kuene portrays Khama's uncle -- the man who raised him and who groomed him for royal ascendance. Kuene's character cannot reconcile himself to his nephew's marriage.

Not surprisingly, Oyelowo -- who played Martin Luther King in Selma -- has a major uplifting speech toward the movie's conclusion. The story ends optimistically with Botswana abandoning monarchy in favor of democracy. Khama became the country's first president.

A United Kingdom doesn't shrink from presenting explosive racial issues, but the movie remains a rather dry telling of an incendiary tale.

Young, indepednent and biracial

Belle gives Austen-like treatment to a historically important story.

If you've ever wondered how Jane Austen's novels might have looked like had the author paid more attention to race, you no longer need to use your imagination.

Loosely based on a true story, Belle spins an Austen-like yarn about Dido Elizabeth Belle, a woman who was raised by British aristocrats and who also happened to be the daughter of a British Naval officer and a black woman.

After her father leaves for sea -- where he eventually perishes -- Dido is taken in by her father's uncle, Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson). She's raised on the Mansfield estate during the 1800s, prior to the abolition of slavery.

Belle follows Austen's lead when it comes to finding a man for Dido. Dido's ultimate soul mate must be a fellow whose values are more important than his position in society, presuming that he doesn't fall too low on the British totem. Virtue trumps status.

Full of inspiring speeches about justice and well-acted by an exceptionally talented cast, Belle stands as a respectable period piece that approaches its subject in straightforward fashion.

Though portrayed as mostly happy, Dido's upbringing wasn't without problems. She and her white cousin Elizabeth became fond playmates, but when guests were present, Dido had to dine apart from the family lest visitors be offended by her presence.

This is but one of the movie's many attempts to portray the mixture of gentility (which it does well) and savagery (which it does less well) that defined British society at a moment when the formal social order had begun to change -- at least a little.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw leads the way as Dido, giving us a woman whose independent spirit and intelligence is clear from the outset. As the movie progresses, Dido gains in both assurance and conviction.

Dido's realizations take two forms: Having lived among the upper classes, she knows she's their equal. Increasingly, though, she also understands that her color connects her to those who are being viciously exploited because of their race. Dido's political consciousness grows.

Wilkinson (joined by a fine Emily Watson as Lady Mansfield) delivers a wonderful performance as a conflicted man. As Britain's Lord Chief Justice, Mansfield is about to rule on an important case involving the slave trade.

Lord Mansfield believes in maintaining the social order through law, but understands that he has a moral obligation to do the right thing. He loves Dido, but fears for her future.

As directed by Amma Asante -- from a screenplay by Misan Sagay -- Belle eventually conflates legal matters and romance. With Justice Mansfield's decision looming, Dido's personal life becomes increasingly complex.

Dido is courted by the socially well-positioned Oliver Ashford (James Norton), a man who's willing to "overlook" her mixed-race background, perhaps because he's eager to gain access to the income Dido inherited from her seafaring father.

You don't need to be a master prognosticator to know that Dido ultimately will give her heart to an abolitionist firebrand (Sam Reid) who happens to be the son of a lowly vicar.

Miranda Richardson appears as the manipulative Lady Ashford -- mother of Oliver Ashford. Lady Ashford's older son James (Tom Felton) portrays the movie's staunchest racist.

Sarah Gadon nicely handles the role of Elizabeth, Dido's less-than-astute cousin who comes to envy Dido for the marriage proposal she receives.

Belle uses Dido's story as the basis for a portrait of British society in the days prior to abolition. It's not a subtle film, but the movie -- to no small effect -- is bolstered by a cast that knows precisely how to bring Asante's plan to life.

Adultery and murder, oh my!

A mostly leaden adaptation of a 19th century story of guilt and betrayal.

I don't know if there's a single way to ensure the success of a 19th century costume drama, but generally I prefer those that opt for dramatic urgency over undisguised melodrama or slavish devotion to source material, movies that arrive in theaters without a trace of musty aroma.

In Secret -- an emotionally remote rendition of Emile Zola's 1867 novel Therese Raquin -- doesn't fit the bill. Zola's story of murder and infidelity -- considered shocking in its day -- proves a boiled roast of a movie, a story cooked to near flavorlessness.

Zola's story involves betrayal and murder, carried out in the name of love -- or perhaps under the influence of unleashed ardor.

Young Therese (Elizabeth Olsen) languishes in a lifeless marriage to her sickly husband Camille (Tom Felton). Camille and Therese were raised together by their aunt (Jessica Lange), who also arranged for the cousins to marry.

After a move from the country to Paris, the family is visited by one of Camille's old buddies, Laurent (Oscar Isaac, most recently of Inside Llewyn Davis). Laurent and Therese begin their heated affair -- which consists of a lot of lunchtime trysts. It's only a matter of time until they conspire to rid the world of Camille.

A little more chemistry between Isaac and Olsen might have helped carry the movie into its even more dour second half.

Once the dastardly deed has been accomplished -- poor Camille is pushed out of a row boat and drowned -- director Charlie Stratton works to give the murderous duo their moral comeuppance. Transgression must be punished, and both Olsen and Isaac enter full suffering mode.

Olsen, terrific in Martha Marcy May Marlene, can't seem to find a handle on her character, relying on abrupt shifts in mood, pouty silences and wide-eyed gaping.

Isaac knows how to brood, and Lange gives it her all, particularly in late scenes in which a stroke leaves her character unable to move or speak. Felton -- who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies -- might be the most convincing of all.

It's never a good sign when an audience laughs at a movie's most serious moments. Laughter rippled through the audience at a preview screening when the movie reached its grim finale. So much for upping the story's tragic ante.

And truth be told, the finale was a bit anti-climactic. In Secret already had spent far too much time stuck in the visual mud of a darkened, lower-class Paris.

Savvy audiences will notice the similarities between Zola's story and many film noir plots, but even those who don't care about such things may find themselves mired in a tale that seems to be unfolding without benefit of conviction.

No one, by the way, feigns a French accent, which might normally be a relief, except the movie feels as if it has landed in the wrong country. In Secret slogs through the major plot points of Zola's novel while managing a strange trick: It feels about as French as an English breakfast.