MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

qetzalita I try not to rate a movie with a high score, usually because in a film there is more things to evaluate than a plot, (the thing most people let themselves get influenced by). That's why most of movies don't go up a 7 or 8, in the better of cases: the great majority is not worth it.This film is charming and couldn't give it less than an eight. The screenplay is just so well-written, you never feel you are bored while watching, despite the absurd of the simplicity in the story: a family, two loving parents, a lame friend, a swindler and a couple of interesting twins. Really, what makes this film awesome, is the mix between these facts, the little things that happen to all of them and the visuals, (I would also mention the outstanding acting performances). The camera work and edition is professionally done, as well. Mike Leigh, despite being more a ''theatrical person'' (you can notice this tendency all throughout the film), and being this his 4th movie, well, he knew how to use the cinematographic tools he had in a particular artistic way.

iain-103 agree with a bunch of these comments, life can be sweet without it being perfect.i loved the way the perception of the characters changed as you learnt more about them. knowing mike leigh's style you can be sure that when wendy tells nicola that she gave up university to have her children and says 'You didn't know that did you?', jane horrocks certainly wouldn't have the first time they acted it.what didn't occur to me later is that although life can be sweet even despite the many difficulties that all families have, there is a tender double meaning for nicola. by excluding her family and relying on her chocolates, life can still stay sweet, but in the most temporary and most bitter way.i felt so optimistic at the end that they will come out of it all stronger together. upbeat, but as far from a Hollywood ending as you can get.

cwej1 ...are the small ones.Mike Leigh worked with his relatively small cast (five main cast members and about four supporting cast members), improvising characters, devising scenarios and plots, and came up with this; one of his earliest masterpieces.The plot is simple enough. A couple of days in the life of a working class London family. There isn't really a plot as such. A couple of fairly deep issues are dealt with, such as eating disorders and depression, but other than a few moments, all we are doing is watching a family live their life: a strong hard-working mother (Alison Steadman); a weaker easily-led by his mates father (Jim Broadbent); and their twin daughters: Natalie (Claire Skinner) - resourceful and kind-hearted but with a strange tendency to wear men's shirts and down pints - and Nicola (Jane Horrocks) - screwed up, rude, irrational and painfully insecure in both her looks and her intelligence.The performances brought out by this form of filmmaking are superb - as they are in all of Leigh's movies (Secrets & Lies, Career Girls and All Or Nothing are all worthy of viewing, but especially Secrets & Lies). However, Alison Steadman is the standout (perhaps for no other reason than she has the most screen time), the driving force that brings all the family together. The scene in which she finally cracks and loses that nervous laugh to tell Nicola a few home truths and break down the barriers that Nicola has put up between herself and the rest of the world, is so beautifully written and terrifically performed that it is a shame that Steadman in particular was not Oscar-nominated.Only one or two criticisms struck me. One was a slight lack of development of the other daughter. What exactly DOES make her tick? Am I merely stereotyping by assuming she is supposed to be a lesbian? Or is she just happy being so masculine in her dress-sense and mannerisms - (she isn't even offended by a client who calls her a 'good lad')? We never find out, because the film focuses a little more on her sister. It certainly appears that her mother suspects her daughter of being gay, but for some reason the subject is never brought up.Similarly, a couple of loose ends are never tied up. The caravan and the restaurant in particular. But I guess we have the prerogative to make our own endings up haven't we, so that's a good thing in many ways.I think at the end of the day, people will either like all of Mike Leigh's films or none of them. And I'm in the former group. His work is beautiful and always touching.

andyfennessy A superb example of Mike Leigh's directing method - working with his actors, many of them regulars, making up most of the script as they go along.No falling empires or coveted magical rings here, just the small victories and tiny despairs of everyday life - Timothy Spall's ridiculous restaurant ("Liver in Lager"??), Jane Horrocks' eating disorder and general estrangement from the world, Jim Broadbent and his grimy little burger van, Clair Skinner's endearingly sensible tomboy plumber... all exquisite little portraits. Best of all is Alison Steadman as the suburban Earth-mother trying to hold it all together.It shows, above all, that a great film can be about anything really, as long as the direction, acting and script is of this calibre. Ben Hur, it ain't!Absolutely marvelous - 9/10.