A Mike Leigh film that is ultimately about happiness. Why do some people seem to have an abundance of it and why are some just so utterly miserable?
Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen serve as a married couple that is the centerpiece of stability and happiness for their collection of friends, most of whom are quite discontent.
This is a gentle and poignant tale of a modern society (even though this is set in Britain it could very well be any westernized culture) and how individual and family behaviors, choices, insecurities, disappointments, jealousies, pleasures, and destroyed dreams all combine to form our daily existence.
This is a mature film meaning that adults who have experienced any bit disappointment (and who among us has not?) will relate to this material.
Lesley Manville is especially excellent in the role of Mary.
