Showing:
BBC TWO, Saturday August 11, 10.40pm
Synopsis:
(2002) In a London housing estate over a long weekend, long-term couple Penny and Phil rediscover their love when their son Rory becomes ill and has to be rushed to hospital.
Read the full synopsis on BFI Screenonline.
Producer:
Alain Sarde, Simon Channing-Williams
Cast:
- Timothy Spall (Phil Bassett)
- Lesley Manville (Penny Bassett)
- Alison Garland (Rachel Bassett)
- James Corden (Rory Bassett)
- Ruth Sheen (Maureen)
- Marion Bailey (Carol)
Full cast and credits on BFI Screenonline.
Analysis:
Critical opinion was divided on Mike Leigh's All or Nothing: some considered it is his most self-assured work to date; others felt Leigh's gritty kitchen-sink realism was becoming jaded and his characters becoming caricatures. But there is no doubt that in this strikingly polemic slice of disaffected, cross-generational working-class life, the narrative is given time to evolve. More importantly, the characters are given the space to develop.
Dick Pope's cinematography imbues the subject matter with a certain scruffy realism and authenticity, favouring cramped interiors. In the montage of cab sequences, sense of space is restricted by the camera's static position. Inside Penny and Phil's flat, shots framed by doors and windows heighten this feeling of bleak claustrophobia.
Leigh's meditation on the impoverished human condition highlights the struggles to survive of a cross-section of middle-aged working-class people.
Read the full analysis on BFI Screenonline.
Review:
Great acting by lead characters.
Stephen Sinclair
A real pleasure to see characters given the space to develop. Against a bleak backdrop, the humanity of the central characters is inspiring. Great performances, particularly Timothy Spall who is (yet again) sensational.
Alex Flavell
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