A tough go, but Leigh's depth and rigor, and his skill at inspiring accomplished portrayals that are all the more impressive for their lack of showiness, offsets to a notable degree the film's often-mined and despairing milieu.
All or Nothing (2002)
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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
A strangely stirring experience that finds warmth in the coldest environment and makes each crumb of emotional comfort feel like a 10-course banquet.
Fancy a real downer? [Leigh] lays it on so thick this time that it feels like a suicide race.
Leigh uses a somber cello-rich score to infuse this quotidian suffering with a mystical edge and high-culture gloss -- and yet, thanks to the generally enthusiastic performing, the movie borders on farce.
Lazy, miserable and smug. This is one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
Even as All or Nothing doesn't fail, it pales in comparison with the best of Leigh’s work, but all the same it's well worth seeing.
Spare, unsentimental, moody, and, like many films of this skill and observation, really funny.
Leigh succeeds in delivering a dramatic slap in the face that's simultaneously painful and refreshing.
If every artist's misfires were this strong, life would be almost too wonderful to bear.
American audiences may rebel against such unrelenting bleakness, but said audiences will not find a more intimate emotional portrait at their local multiplex.
An often deeply moving depiction of the brittle lives of several inhabitants of the same London housing complex.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | 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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