Nil by Mouth (1997)
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 6,565
My Rating
Movie Info
A working class British family struggles with their demons -- sometimes violently -- in this intensely emotional drama that marked the directorial debut of actor Gary Oldman. Janet (Laila Morse) is a widowed factory worker who shares her home with her aged mother Kath (Edna Dore), her daughter Valerie (Kathy Burke), her son Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles), and Valerie's husband Ray (Ray Winstone). Ray is an unstable and out-of-work alcoholic who often uses his pregnant wife as a punching bag, while
Feb 6, 1998 Wide
Dec 23, 2003
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Cast
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Chrissie Cotterill
Paula -
Charlie Creed-Miles
Billy -
Edna Dore
Kath -
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Steve Sweeney
Danny -
Kathy Burke
Valerie -
Jon Morrison
Angus -
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Jamie Forman
Mark -
Laila Morse
Janet -
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Ray Winstone
Raymond -
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Nil by Mouth Trailer & Photos
All Critics (40) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (7) | DVD (5)
There's so much authenticity and raw emotion here that most viewers will be able to excuse the fact that they don't understand any of the dialogue.
An uncompromising drama.
Imagine a movie where every character is played by Gary Oldman, in the drunken overacting Oldman mode. Oldman's unfocused and self-indulgent directorial debut has moments of poignancy and insight, but not enough to make it endurable.
Oldman creates an uncanny documentary feel for his fictional story that draws you in despite the misery unfurling onscreen.
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Though a trifle convoluted (there are a few scenes that contribute little or nothing to the film), it is a genuinely moving, visceral experience. Don't be mistaken, this is not another trashy British gangster flick, far from it. Ray Winstone(Ray) and Kathy Burke (Valerie) are both tremendous, their performances stop the film from descending into the realm of 'The Football Factory' or 'Rise of the Footsoldier'. It's also the script that distinguishes it from such films which, on face value, appear comparable. The script has ample profanity, and I really mean ample, it's the most profane film I've ever seen, but it also has segments of real poignancy. Burke and Winstone interpreted the script perfectly. Winstone's performance is unsettlingly convincing; some may say he's one-dimensional, but he really is a rather good actor. It is Kathy Burke's moments that are the most moving, chiefly a scene where she desperately tells a white-lie: it's genuinely upsetting.
The film is rightfully spared of romanticism, it's completely devoid of poetic licence, what you see is pure, candid realism. Ironically, the film isn't pure at all, it's gritty and unrestrained in its depiction of violence and vulgarity; one moment being particularly horrifying. To criticise the film for being 'unfocused' is missing the point. To me, it was an almost non- linear insight into the human condition, a film woven from the personal experiences of Gary Oldman and delivered with the utmost conviction from Burke, Winstone and indeed the whole cast.