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ALL OR NOTHING Send This Review to a Friend
Writer-director Mike Leigh is a filmmaker ever in pursuit of truth, and he treats his characters that way. In "All or Nothing" he gives us portraits of struggling South-East London families trying to cope with their daily lives. Fate has not been kind, and while one might tend to dismiss them as losers, Leigh and his excellent cast will not allow us to do any such thing. These are flesh and blood individuals, and Leigh's realism demands that they be noticed sympathetically.
Timothy Spall as Phil, a radio cab driver, has a face that looks as if it is bearing the pain of the whole world. He is mostly sullen as he drives around and handles the problems that arise with his passengers and engages in small talk. He looks unkempt and weary, and his demeanor suggests that he may be holding everything in to a point where he might explode. Phil lives with Penny, played by Lesley Manville, who works at a supermarket checkout counter. There is a forlorn look about her, and life with Phil seems hopelessly drab, although Penny appears as if she might have been more attractive before circumstances beat her down.
Their children are no bargains. Rory (James Corden) is an obese angry slob who talks back profanely and is thoroughly anti-social. His sister Rachel (Alison Garland) is also obese, and she toils away in a home for the elderly with seemingly no hope for much more in life. And yet, as we see from a crisis that occurs, there are still family ties and feelings that bind the parents and their offspring together.
Ruth Sheen is a standout as Maureen, also wounded by life but still flashing a sense of fun on occasion and is able to take charge in an emergency. But her daughter Donna (Helen Coker) is a mess and abused by her surly boyfriend. She panics when learning that she is pregnant.
And so it goes. The folks in "All or Nothing" are not the kind of characters one feels like spending movie time with. But Leigh's filmmaking is so good, so intense and so downright realistic that the acting and direction make the film worth seeing just to appreciate what the combination of talent is able to accomplish. Leigh's well-known method is to have his actors work out their parts with him in advance rather than rely on a rigid screenplay, and the approach certainly works here. A United Artists release.
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