Life is Sweet (1990)
Not one of my favorite Mike Leigh films, but still quite good and moving (like almost anything he does). Jim Broadbent and Alison Steadman play a working-class London couple, Andy and Wendy, who have two twin daughters, Nicola and Natalie (Jane Horrocks and Claire Skinner). Natalie is a plumber and fairly content with her life. Nicola is just a wreck. She pretends to be political, but really she's just miserable. She criticizes everything her family does, she doesn't have a job, and she rarely leaves the house. She also has an eating disorder, which the rest of the family skirts around.
The film is, like most Mike Leigh pictures, rather low key. Andy, a cook, buys a dilapidated lunch cart which we know he will never fix up or use. Nicola has depressing sex with her boyfriend (David Thewlis) and keeps a secret suitcase filled with candy bars in her bedroom. We meet a few family friends, Patsy (Stephen Rea) a drunk, and Aubrey (Timothy Spall) an idiot who thinks he's a man of the world. (My favorite part was when we see Aubrey's ideas for his restaurant's decor - they're completely insane and hilarious.) Basically, it's a slice of life film. Nothing out of the ordinary happens, we just watch people try and fail. There is a small crisis near the end, but it brings the family a little closer together. Like most Leigh movies, it ends with us wishing that things will get better for the characters, but ultimately wondering just how much better can it be?
The film is, like most Mike Leigh pictures, rather low key. Andy, a cook, buys a dilapidated lunch cart which we know he will never fix up or use. Nicola has depressing sex with her boyfriend (David Thewlis) and keeps a secret suitcase filled with candy bars in her bedroom. We meet a few family friends, Patsy (Stephen Rea) a drunk, and Aubrey (Timothy Spall) an idiot who thinks he's a man of the world. (My favorite part was when we see Aubrey's ideas for his restaurant's decor - they're completely insane and hilarious.) Basically, it's a slice of life film. Nothing out of the ordinary happens, we just watch people try and fail. There is a small crisis near the end, but it brings the family a little closer together. Like most Leigh movies, it ends with us wishing that things will get better for the characters, but ultimately wondering just how much better can it be?