While none of this is easy to watch, you'll be moved anyway.
All or Nothing (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:72
Rotten:15
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: All or Nothing's depiction of the working-class can be depressingly bleak, but the performances are wonderfully true to life.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive language and some sexuality
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Oct 25, 2002 Limited
Synopsis: Following 1999's Oscar-nominated period piece TOPSY-TURVY, acclaimed filmmaker Mike Leigh returns to the familiar terrain of modern, working-class London with ALL OR NOTHING. Yet another... Following 1999's Oscar-nominated period piece TOPSY-TURVY, acclaimed filmmaker Mike Leigh returns to the familiar terrain of modern, working-class London with ALL OR NOTHING. Yet another bittersweet slice-of-life drama conceived in Leigh's now legendary improvisational style, ALL OR NOTHING follows a group of dysfunctional families living in a London housing project who seem to have lost any glimmer of optimism and hope. Phil Bassett (Timothy Spall) works as a cab driver, while his wife Penny (Lesley Manville) holds a job as a clerk in a Safeway. Their two kids, Rachel (Alison Garland) and Rory (James Corden), are overweight and friendless. Nearby, Ron (Paul Jesson) and Carol (Marion Bailey) drink themselves into oblivion every night, while their sex-charged daughter Samantha (Sally Hawkins) attempts to conquer every boy on the block. Next door to them, Penny's coworker Maureen (Ruth Sheen) watches over her daughter, Donna (Helen Coker), who has been impregnated by her bitter, abusive boyfriend. In typical Leigh fashion, each character trudges through the muck of everyday existence, until a minor revelation sparks an understanding that brings hope to their sour lives. Featuring impeccably realized performances by the ensemble cast--most notably Spall and Manville--Leigh's film pays tribute to the exasperating institution of family. [More]
Starring: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Sally Hawkins
Starring: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Sally Hawkins, Alison Garland, James Corden, Helen Coker, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson
Director: Mike Leigh
Director: Mike Leigh
Screenwriter: Mike Leigh
Producer: Simon Channing Williams,
Composer: Andrew Dickson
Studio: MGM/UA
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Reviews for All or Nothing
[Generosity] seems to resonate in Andrew Dickson's sweet, melancholy score, in Dick Pope's tactfully beautiful images and in every frame of this sad, resolute film.
This is an elegantly balanced movie -- every member of the ensemble has something fascinating to do -- that doesn't reveal even a hint of artifice.
Leigh and his actors succeed in making these characters human and sympathetic and, thus, all the more profoundly sad.
Leigh and his actors succeed in making these characters human and sympathetic and, thus, all the more profoundly sad.
Leigh's daring here is that without once denying the hardscrabble lives of people on the economic fringes of Margaret Thatcher's ruinous legacy, he insists on the importance of those moments when people can connect and express their love for each other.
This isn't a feel-good kind of movie, but the ensemble cast is exceptional - everything about them says 'hard life'.
The film feels uncomfortably real, its language and locations bearing the unmistakable stamp of authority.
Leigh is one of the rare directors who feels acting is the heart and soul of cinema. He allows his cast members to make creative contributions to the story and dialogue. This method almost never fails him, and it works superbly here.
Features such an uncanny ear for dialogue, characterization and situations that it seems almost like a documentary.
Some of the events are unpleasant, but we are glad to accompany these people, who seem like our friends, through them.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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