All or Nothing

Lets be honest, Mike Leigh's films are not for everyone. No effort is made to make them commercially viable, the cast are almost always, largely unknown and certain scenes are so harrowing that even the strongest viewer can find themselves distressed and perturbed. While these factors keep some people away, they also keep many others coming back time and time again. Mike Leigh is quite simply, a national treasure. And I don't mean that in the same fluffy "Gawd Bless 'Em" manner that people applied to Thora Hird and the Queen Mother. I mean that he is simply one of the finest and most honest chroniclers of contemporary Britain that we have produced.

Make no mistake, the British have always enjoyed social realism. We can gauge that through that great yardstick of social self-perceptions, the soap opera. While the Americans produce soaps full of tanned, successful oil barons and their supermodel / actress mistresses, and the Australians show us their blue collar bungalow owners who like a beer with their mates and a barbecue on Sundays, the British make soaps full of characters who are little more than diluted, softened incarnations of Leigh's own subjects. People who work at checkouts and in launderettes, people who are trapped by poverty, alcoholism, violence and stifled or strangled ambition.

But through it all , there's a hope, an anticipation of a better day just around the corner and that's what makes these films ultimately uplifting. Leigh has always shown that no matter how dire the circumstances, how forlorn the existence, love and hope, friendship and family, will find a way to offer support, comfort and succor.

In achieving this, Leigh has the assistance of another of the U.K.'s finest - Timothy Spall. If ever an actor was capable of portraying at once the fragility, insecurity and yet the potential for sheer stubborn strength of the British psyche its Spall. His character in All or Nothing, Phil is an incredibly vulnerable man. A pensive, gentle man, trapped in his own doubts and in a world of people who react by lashing out, verbally or physically and so compounding his doubts and fear. He apologises constantly, and often appears to be apologising for simply existing. An under-educated but intellectual man he even apologises for having an extensive vocabulary, a character trait which Leigh uses cleverly but subtly by having Phil precede each "big word" with "wotsitsname". It appears that Phil is searching for the word, he isn't, he knows exactly what he's about to say but is reluctant to say it in case he appears educated or articulate. We hear Phil talk about destiny and saying "It's...wotsitsname..kismet". In a world of expletives and harsh words he's ashamed at his verbal dexterity viewing it as a weakness rather than a strength.

Devices such as these help us understand technically why Leigh is just such a good writer and the way in which these devices are performed help us understand why Leigh constantly looks to Spall to anchor his scripts with his marvelous humanity.

All or Nothing is a vicious, gut wrenching, graceful, uplifting gem of a movie from a master filmmaker. Its is performed by a marvelous leading man and a collection of wonderfully talented supporting actors. In a world of blockbusters and multi million dollar opening nights Mike Leigh continues to give us humanity, despair, courage and beauty. And do we ever need him.

Mike Leigh makes this movie as a sociological study because he wants us to be confronted with the state of mind of the working class of now. There is more poverty in the slums nowadays than say twenty years ago! Family-life is disrupted and children have many problems: overweight, sexual harassment, abortion (?). How will the rent be paid? And the loan of the taxi? What is going on in the mind of our son who does only look television and eat until he becomes fat? Why is my woman unhappy, do we still talk to each other? We are proud of our daughter who is a nurse for elderly people, but what is happening with our son? Even the dialogues in the taxi are splendid!

I have just returned from a special advance showing of "All Or Nothing" at my local UGC and I must say, this film exceeded my expectations enormously.

The film is about the lives of one family in a council estate and how each member interacts with the community. The Father, Phil Bassett (Timothy Spall) works as a Taxi driver while his wife Penny (Lesley Manville) is a checkout operator at a local supermarket. They are unmarried but have two children Rachel and Rory, the former being an angst-ridden, overweight layabout who is key to the film.

Acting is superb. It is that simple. All but one performance is utterly convincing, especially Timothy Spall with his constant bemused grimace which sets the mood of both his character and the film. The one exception is Donna played by Helen Coker. Her role is played up too much and seems rather forced. Now if by any chance you're reading Helen, please don't be disheartened; I merely saw you as the "least best" of an excellent bunch and I have to criticise something!

The script is authentic, witty and full of emotion while not being repetitive (barring the word "alright"!).

"All Or Nothing" is one of the greatest portrayals of what it is REALLY like to be part of a down-on-your-luck working class family. I even believe the film ended too soon; there were a few ideas that could have been developed further. I mention this not as a criticism but as a tribute to Mike Leigh who actually made we wish this 2hr 28 minute film would go on!

Fantastic! Eight out of ten!!!

"All or Nothing" certainly isn't a movie for the masses and I'm sure that many people will never see it or even think about seeing it and that is a shame. It's true that it is a rather depressing movie, at first sight, when you don't look closer and don't get involved in the story. When you take the time to dig deeper, you'll not only see the misery, but also a beautiful thing called love.

In this movie we mostly follow Phil, a gentle guy who works as a taxi-driver and who lives together with his wife and two children in some social housing complex in London. His daughter works in a retirement home, his son hasn't got a job and his wife works on the checkout at a supermarket. They have the biggest problems to make both ends meet every month, but that's not Phil's biggest concern. He doesn't care much for life anymore, because his wife no longer loves him. But than something terrible happens to the family, bringing them all together again, as close or perhaps even closer as they have ever been...

This movie is very realistic, hard and dark, but in the same time it is also very heart-warming. This certainly isn't a sugar sweet love story like we get too often from the big Hollywood studio's. This is what real life is like for many people. It has a social engagement (showing that even in biggest misery, people still care for each other and help each other), that probably will never be found in a Hollywood production.

I guess it will be understand and loved more by people who like realistic movies in general and socially engaged movies in particular. I might even say that it will be loved more by the people who are used to watch other European movies (Scandinavian, Spanish, French,... movies often have a deeper meaning included). Personally I liked what I saw and that's why I give this movie a 7.5/10.

This film is worth a hundred others because it is not an exercise in making a product and marketing it successfully- instead it is a statement by a man who is a true director, someone who feels passionately about the world we live in, and uses this fantastic medium to its highest potential.

The film is ultimately about a man (Phil, Timothy Spall) who has philosophized about life to the point where nothing matters to him anymore. The only thing that brings him back around the world of the living is (the only thing any of us really need for happiness)... Love.

For me, that is one of the most pertinent and beautiful things that someone with a voice in society can say.

P.S. It is highly likely that if anyone found this film 'too depressing' than they are not really primed to expect anything other than the beauty and predictability of

hollywood film. And in response to the chap who refutes the existence of such misery in the real world: you are obviously a lucky, privileged chap.