Life Is Sweet (1990) -
It was obvious that it's a Mike Leigh film from the beginning, even if you missed his name in the credits, you couldn't dispute that it was one of his works.
It's his take on a snapshot of suburban life in the late eighties/early nineties and in its depiction it felt like a feature length episode of 'The Royle Family' (1998-2012) and in some respects a pre-cursor to 'Gavin & Stacey' (2007-19). Utilising extreme stereotypes from a poorer/less affluent background in a way that, in my opinion, showed up the British and almost glorified the lifestyle and situation.
And it may not have been, but a lot of it seemed ad-libbed, which can sometimes work, but in this instance it all felt like Alison Steadman was just rabbiting on and laughing with Jim Broadbent like idiots.
I don't think that I laughed once though and I would find it hard to categorise it as a comedy, but rather a cringey tragedy.
I actually look at this film and wonder how Timothy Spall and Jim got so much work afterwards, but based on the ceremonies of the time giving Jane Horrocks numerous awards for her performance, they obviously had different ideas about acting back in 1990.
Although I usually love her, Jane was a bit much in this one. She's very exaggerated and her voice didn't sound very real.
Claire Skinner on the other hand was understated and quiet, but great in her part according to my standards. Under-appreciated as an actress I think and far more natural than the rest of the entire cast.
Tim was a bit of a caricature too. It was quite possibly his worst performance for me and I've seen 'Mr Turner'. Although he wasn't quite so loathsome or idiotic in that.
Jim was Jim, but Alison delivered a good show, apart from the silly giggling.
As for the story, it didn't do anything, it had no point to it and did nothing for me at all. I suppose that if you look upon it as a piece that captured a period in time and the lives of a working class family, with their various issues, then it did the job for future historians to explain that once upon a time, you could get a Mars Bar big enough that it was actually worth eating. Actually, the nostalgia of a Woolworths carrier bag and a remembrance of the food packaging of the time probably intrigued me the most about the entire film.
Maybe I missed something, but even Mike Leigh says it's the worst of his films.
235.06/1000.
It was obvious that it's a Mike Leigh film from the beginning, even if you missed his name in the credits, you couldn't dispute that it was one of his works.
It's his take on a snapshot of suburban life in the late eighties/early nineties and in its depiction it felt like a feature length episode of 'The Royle Family' (1998-2012) and in some respects a pre-cursor to 'Gavin & Stacey' (2007-19). Utilising extreme stereotypes from a poorer/less affluent background in a way that, in my opinion, showed up the British and almost glorified the lifestyle and situation.
And it may not have been, but a lot of it seemed ad-libbed, which can sometimes work, but in this instance it all felt like Alison Steadman was just rabbiting on and laughing with Jim Broadbent like idiots.
I don't think that I laughed once though and I would find it hard to categorise it as a comedy, but rather a cringey tragedy.
I actually look at this film and wonder how Timothy Spall and Jim got so much work afterwards, but based on the ceremonies of the time giving Jane Horrocks numerous awards for her performance, they obviously had different ideas about acting back in 1990.
Although I usually love her, Jane was a bit much in this one. She's very exaggerated and her voice didn't sound very real.
Claire Skinner on the other hand was understated and quiet, but great in her part according to my standards. Under-appreciated as an actress I think and far more natural than the rest of the entire cast.
Tim was a bit of a caricature too. It was quite possibly his worst performance for me and I've seen 'Mr Turner'. Although he wasn't quite so loathsome or idiotic in that.
Jim was Jim, but Alison delivered a good show, apart from the silly giggling.
As for the story, it didn't do anything, it had no point to it and did nothing for me at all. I suppose that if you look upon it as a piece that captured a period in time and the lives of a working class family, with their various issues, then it did the job for future historians to explain that once upon a time, you could get a Mars Bar big enough that it was actually worth eating. Actually, the nostalgia of a Woolworths carrier bag and a remembrance of the food packaging of the time probably intrigued me the most about the entire film.
Maybe I missed something, but even Mike Leigh says it's the worst of his films.
235.06/1000.