All or Nothing

As a friend of mine said: "This film tore my heart out." I've waxed poetic about Lars von Trier, now I get to do that for Mike Leigh, a British director who creates films that are just as raw. Not in the same style, but the emotional impact is just as high. I'm pretty sure all his films follow the same methodology: working class, emotionally dysfunctional Brits who grow and learn through heart-wrenching epiphanies enacted towards the end of the films. Brenda Blethyn was nominated for an Oscar in a previous Mike Leigh film, Secrets & Lies, which you may have heard of although sadly Leigh films are not well known in this country. My first taste was of his 1990 film Life Is Sweet. If you like All or Nothing, definitely watch the other two. I think I like them so much because you can truly empathize with the characters; they are as real as you and me. The ephiphanies are tough to watch, but mesmerizing because they seem so real. I almost wonder if he asks his actors to sit in a closet and cry for an hour before doing these scenes. (Which in fact Stanley Kubrick had Nicole Kidman do for her scene towards the end of Eyes Wide Shut.) I don't at all want to deflect you from seeing the film, because it is worth watching if only because it is so far away from the usual Hollywood melodrama. I guarantee you will be moved by it.

year: 2002
length: 128 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286261/combined