Retro Film Review: All or Nothing (2002)

drax(76)

Published in

#film

Words

748

Reading

4 min

Listen

Play

(source: tmdb.org)

Context in the films can often be everything. Imagine film maker who built his reputation by making films that deal with the everyday lives of people without job, money, education, hope, physical or mental health and any of those things that the average middle-class viewer takes for granted. If those films were Hollywood films, the result would probably resemble Jerry Springer Show. But British director Mike Leigh represents something quite different - his films indeed swim in the sea of British underclass despair, but they are in the same time almost subscribed to rave critical reviews and festival awards. The reason for that could be discovered in Leigh's 2002 drama All or Nothing.

The plot revolves around few characters from South London who live in the same housing estate and have all sorts of financial and family problems. Phil (played by Timothy Spall) is burned-out and world-weary taxi driver who barely manages to support his family. His common-law wife Penny (played by Lesley Manville) works as supermarket clerk, while their plump daughter Rachel (played by Alison Garland) works as a cleaner in retirement-home and barely speaks a word, preferring the romance novels to human contact. Their obese son Rory (played by James Gorden) refuses to take a job and instead spends all of his time lying in front of TV or bullying young boys on the street. Penny's friends and next-door neighbours don't embody happiness either - Carol (played by Mario Bailey) is constantly drunk and doesn't notice her daughter Samantha (played by Sally Hawking) who parades on the streets in skimpy clothes and teases young men from the neighbourhood. Maureen (played by Ruth Sheen) is the only one who seems to have positive attitude towards life, unlike her daughter Donna (played by Helen Coker), burdened with abusive relationship with boyfriend Jason (played by David Mays). Monotony of those lives is going to be shattered by the unexpected event that would force Phil and his family members to start re-evaluating their priorities.

All those who see movies as entertainment and nothing else should do themselves a favour by avoiding All or Nothing and doing something else with two hours of their lives. And even those more accustomed to downbeat films would need an extra effort to digest the overwhelming bleakness in Mike Leigh's drama. The bleakness is even more remarkable because, for the most of the time, plot doesn't move and the characters are barely aware of the hopelessness of their situation. But Leigh knows how to bring that hopelessness to the screen by putting some insignificant everyday events in the proper context. And the acting is top-notch, just as we are accustomed to see from British films. Timothy Spall, who left such a lasting impression in Leigh's Secrets & Lies, is perfect for the role of Phil, probably the only character who has some sort of clue of his future. His eyes alone are enough to convey the utter horror of his existence, as well as his unshaven face that indicates a man who is just going to give up living itself. Spall's acting is even better when paired by Emily Manvilles's -two of them simply shine in a long but very convincing scene at the end. Although Spall's presence alone had potential from some comedy, Leigh wisely chose to get few of such precious moments of humour from other characters and thus make the bleakness of All or Nothing at least somewhat bearable.

However, not all things are good in All or Nothing. While Leigh chooses right time and place to wrap up the main plot, he had invested too much time in other subplots and he simply can't successfully tie all the loose ends within two hours of running time. Some scenes, including conversation between Phil and his French lady customer, could have been left on the cutting floor. Same could be said about Alan Dickson's string-based musical soundtrack that only manages to annoy the viewers and bring too much pathos to the film. However, even with such flaws, All or Nothing provides enough for all those who enjoy good acting and superb directorial skills. Those who decide to watch this film are going to have very demanding but also a very rewarding experience.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on December 16th 2002)