I have heard a lot o buzz surrounding Another Year, and it is one of the last Oscar-nominated films I had yet to see. So I had a chance to watch it today, not knowing what type of film it would be since I have not seen other Mike Leigh films. It engaged me from it's opening scene to the last.
This is a masterful film, dwelling with it's characters in truly humane and intriguing ways. This is an ensemble cast, and as a whole they were all great. Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen are at the center of the film, and the film takes us on a portrayal of their relationship with others. It is to note that the film is contrasting just how different these two main characters' approach life than the people they are surrounded by. The most notable to these other characters is Mary, played by Lesley Manville. I have to say that she gives one of the best performances of 2010, becoming her character. She is vulnerable and at the same time delusional as to her fantasies in life. It's hard to label her performance as leading or supporting. She has a large amount of screen time, but at the same time she serves only as a window looking in to both Sheen and Broadbent's life. She has definitely created one of the most memorable characters in recent memory, and thats largely because of amazing direction and perhaps the best original screenplay of 2010.
Even when Manville is placed in supporting, it is a shame that the Academy went for a more popular actress (Melissa Leo) when Manville and Weaver (Animal Kingdom) both are amazingly much more effective and either deserved to take home that Oscar (what blasphemy that Manville wasn't even nominated). However, this is a rich film, and certainly one of the best of 2010.
