| ALL OR NOTHING Rating:   Director: Mike Leigh Writer: Mike Leigh Producer: Simon Channing-Williams Director of Photography: Dick Pope Cast: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Alison Garland, James Corden Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
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Review by: Ryan
Kugler
10/25/02
There are really only two things that I know about British director Mike Leigh and his films: they're almost always universally acclaimed by critics, and he loves working without a script, so his actors can come up with their own character interpretations and dialogue. The only two previous Leigh films that I saw were Naked and Secrets & Lies (a best picture nominee), and although they were both well directed and extremely well acted; they were both fairly hard to sit through (due to the pace and the difficult material).
Following in these footsteps (and the footsteps of his last acclaimed film Topsy Turvy) is Leigh's latest, All or Nothing, which gives us the best acting ensemble of the year and one of the most realistic and bleak family dramas I've seen. Like his other films though (at least the ones that I saw), it's much too long (128 minutes), extremely slow-moving (were talking a "crawl" here) and as hopeless and depressing as most of the imports we get about the working class in Great Britain (Nil By Mouth and The War Zone are just two examples that pop into my head). With that in mind, the material is always compelling and the work done by Leigh and all of his actors is quite impressive, so I'm recommending it. Just keep in mind that it's a tough film to sit through (easily one of the least pleasant experiences I had in a theater this year) and it isn't for the casual moviegoer looking for entertainment on a Saturday night (it's more of a Sunday night film, whatever that means).
All or Nothing focuses on three different families that live in the same dilapidated apartment complex. The family that we get to know the most and the one that lies at the heart of this story are the Bassetts. Phil (Leigh returnee Timothy Spall) drives a cab (though he's too lazy to get up in the morning, thereby avoiding the busiest and most profitable time of the day) and basically sleepwalks through his life, always thinking of ways to better his family's situation, but never following through with a plan. Penny (Lesley Manville in an Oscar-caliber performance) is his wife, a strong-willed woman that works full-time in the local market and comes home every night to a full-time job cleaning the house and preparing dinner. Rachel (Alison Garland), their daughter, is an overweight manic-depressive (at least she seems depressed the whole time and understandably so) who works as a janitor in the local hospital, where she's repeatedly hit on by a horny senior citizen. Finally, there's Rory (James Corden), their obese son and an all-around lazy kid who spends all of his time (at least, all of the time that he's not verbally abusing his mother or treating the rest of his family like crap) in front of the telly. Real happy bunch, this Bassett clan.
We also meet two other families. One of the others is that of one of Phil's co-workers, a man whose wife is a drunk and whose daughter plays the role of apartment floozy to perfection, going so far as to flirt with the local psycho, who has a strange obsession with her. Finally, there's the family of one of Penny's co-workers (and best friend), a single mom (probably the most stable of the lot) with an angry, rebellious daughter who gets knocked-up by her abusive boyfriend. When tragedy strikes one of the families, they're all brought together to deal with another blow that life has dealt them all.
There isn't a strong narrative thread holding these characters and their situations together, rather, this is a slice-of-life look at them and the extreme poverty and hopelessness that they face each and every day of their lives.
Once again, the glue holding all of this misery together is the uniform excellence of the cast, particularly the work done by Manville and Spall. Their big, final scene together (which I won't ruin) seemingly goes on forever (and ever), but it's one of the strongest and most realistic peaks into the workings of a marriage put on film. These are two people who have gone through several lifetimes' worth of pain together and are slowly growing apart, but know that they can't make it without one another. With a minimal amount of dialogue (just subtle facial expressions and body language), these two actors are able to show us what a marriage born of love, respect and trust is all about.
All or Nothing isn't the easiest sit in the world, but if you decide to take a chance, seek it out and stick with it until the end; it's a truly rewarding experience and one that will stay with you. This is a film that I appreciate much more upon reflection than I did while actually sitting through it.
(A United Artists release. Opens in
New York and Los Angeles on October 25. Expands to more cities
at later dates.)
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