Barnes & Noble

The carefully observed sufferings of a working-class London family are brilliantly portrayed in All or Nothing, another bleakly powerful drama from writer-director Mike Leigh. With a typical bare-bones plot, the story follows an ensemble of quietly desperate working-class Brits: a mild-mannered taxi driver (Timothy Spall); his unhappy wife (Lesley Manville); and their overweight children (James Corden and Alison Garland). Returning to form after the departure of Topsy Turvy, Leigh here exhibits his genius for finding dignity and importance in a miserable day-to-day existence. The director's technique of improvising with actors during the scripting process unlocks subtleties of characterization rarely seen on screen and, as a result, these characters live and breathe. At the center is regular Leigh collaborator Spall, whose portrayal of a long-suffering and decent man is riveting. It's comparable to his performance in Leigh's widely acclaimed Secrets and Lies, and All or Nothing has much in common with that masterpiece, moving similarly toward a powerful catharsis at the end. Ultimately, the film finds Leigh at the height of his powers, looking through the pain and indignity of the human condition to find the treads of decency and love within us all. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

After a rather decided departure with his 1999 homage to Gilbert and Sullivan, Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh returns to his usual form for All or Nothing, a melancholy look at the day-to-day lives of a dysfunctional lower-middle class British family called the Bassetts. Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville (familiar to fans of Leigh's previous films) star as Phil and Penny, a common-law husband and wife who toil their gloomy days away as a cab-driver and grocery-store cashier, respectively. When the couple come to realize the growing emptiness in their relationship, an unexpected emergency within their family brings them closer together and offers the possibility of reigniting the long-extinguished spark in their marriage. Hoping to repeat the Palm D'or win of Leigh's 1996 film Secrets and Lies, All or Nothing was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Matthew Tobey

Product Details

• UPC: 027616882776
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español, Portugais
• Time: 2:08:00
• Sales Rank: 55,740

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