Another reviewer has commented that this could be a fly-on-the-wall documentary rather than fiction. That hits the nail right on the head. I live some 5 miles from Enfield (where Life is Sweet was filmed) and this is completely true to life. No car chases, no martial artists, no expensive explosions, just life going on and (in the main) being fairly sweet. Everybody knows a Patsy who has a "little deal", everybody knows families like this one, everybody knows an Aubrey who never *quite* makes it. Mike Leigh knows what he's talking about, and it's enough to make a highly enjoyable movie that's worth seeing many times. I don't fancy Aubrey's "Saveloy on a bed of Lychees", though!
55 Reviews
Family Values
JamesHitchcock12 November 2010
Mike Leigh is one of the true independent auteurs in the British film industry, and one of the few major British directors who has not allowed himself to be seduced away by Hollywood. His films, generally based on modern urban English working-class or middle-class life, concentrate more on character than on action and have a very distinctive style which arises out of his equally distinctive method of working, based upon allowing a story to emerge through improvisation, rehearsals and discussions with his cast before shooting actually begins. He generally uses a select group of actors, including Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall and his one-time wife Alison Steadman.
Broadbent, Spall and Steadman all appear in "Life Is Sweet", a comedy based upon the lives of a family from the North London suburb of Enfield- father Andy, mother Wendy and their 22-year-old twin daughters Natalie and Nicola. Andy works as a chef, but hates his job and harbours ambitions of running his own business. He has bought a dilapidated fast-food van which, at some unspecified future date, he intends to clean and restore in order to start up a fast-food business, but has not taken any further steps towards realising his goal. Another major character is Andy's friend Aubrey, another chef, who has taken his own entrepreneurial ambitions a stage further by opening his own French restaurant named "The Regret Rien" after the Edith Piaf song.
Like a number of British film-makers from the eighties and early nineties, Leigh made his films from an essentially left-wing position and was critical of the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. "Life is Sweet", which appeared in the last year of her premiership, can be seen as a veiled satire on the cult of the entrepreneur which flourished under Thatcherism and on the tendency to see business, both big and small, as the sole key to national success. The characters of Andy and Aubrey are well contrasted. Andy is a competent chef but lacks the drive to become a successful independent businessman; his ambitions never seem to amount to much more than vague daydreams. As Wendy says, he has "two speeds, slow and stop".
Aubrey, by contrast, is a man whose inordinate faith in his own abilities is matched only by an incompetence which will surely doom his business career to failure. Much of the humour derives from the bizarre nouvelle cuisine dishes he takes a perverse pleasure in devising. (Saveloy on a bed of lychees, anyone?) When Aubrey's business does not work out as well as he hoped he takes refuge in alcohol.
The film is as much about Andy's home life as his work life, if not more so. His two daughters, although twins, are completely unlike both in looks and in character. Natalie, crop-haired and chunky, is a tomboy who works as a plumber and spends her leisure time playing pool and drinking with her male workmates. Nicola, who is unemployed, is extremely thin, a sufferer from bulimia and a chain-smoker. Whereas Natalie is relatively placid, Nicola is neurotic, bitter, foul-tempered and much given to hurling abuse at her family and acquaintances. She claims to believe in various left-wing causes- "capitalist!" is her favourite insult for her father because of his business ambitions- but never does anything active to further them. Natalie does not appear to have any romantic interests in her life- none of her male drinking chums count as boyfriends, and although some have seen her as a stereotypically "butch" lesbian, she has no girlfriends either. Nicola, by contrast, has an active sex life, although a rather odd one- she likes her rather reluctant boyfriend to smear chocolate spread over her chest.
The two acting performances which really stand out come from Spall as Aubrey- a brilliant comic creation- and Jane Horrocks as Nicola, an equally brilliant tragi-comic one. The film is, however, really an good example of ensemble acting, and there are also great contributions from Steadman as Wendy and Broadbent as Andy.
With its general theme of frustrated ambition and a character as unbalanced as Nicola, "Life is Sweet" could easily have been made as a tragedy. Yet that title is not meant ironically. Leigh might not be a large-C Conservative, but this film suggests that he is a small-c conservative when it comes to family values, and the film is very much about family life. For all their eccentricities, the family at the centre of "Life is Sweet" is not intended to be portrayed as a dysfunctional one. It is a family that functions, although in ways that outsiders might perceive as strange. The sensible, steadfast Wendy and Andy, who beneath some surface peculiarities is a deeply caring man, have an unconditional love for their daughters. They are prepared to make allowances for Nicola's behaviour, which is the result of emotional insecurities rather than spitefulness or malevolence. "We don't hate you! We bloody love you, you stupid girl!" (We learn that Wendy got pregnant with the twins as an unmarried teenager but refused to have an abortion because of a belief in the sanctity of life).
After all the storms, the film ends on a note of calm and hopefulness. This is one of the most distinctive, and one of the best, British social comedies from the early nineties. 8/10
Broadbent, Spall and Steadman all appear in "Life Is Sweet", a comedy based upon the lives of a family from the North London suburb of Enfield- father Andy, mother Wendy and their 22-year-old twin daughters Natalie and Nicola. Andy works as a chef, but hates his job and harbours ambitions of running his own business. He has bought a dilapidated fast-food van which, at some unspecified future date, he intends to clean and restore in order to start up a fast-food business, but has not taken any further steps towards realising his goal. Another major character is Andy's friend Aubrey, another chef, who has taken his own entrepreneurial ambitions a stage further by opening his own French restaurant named "The Regret Rien" after the Edith Piaf song.
Like a number of British film-makers from the eighties and early nineties, Leigh made his films from an essentially left-wing position and was critical of the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. "Life is Sweet", which appeared in the last year of her premiership, can be seen as a veiled satire on the cult of the entrepreneur which flourished under Thatcherism and on the tendency to see business, both big and small, as the sole key to national success. The characters of Andy and Aubrey are well contrasted. Andy is a competent chef but lacks the drive to become a successful independent businessman; his ambitions never seem to amount to much more than vague daydreams. As Wendy says, he has "two speeds, slow and stop".
Aubrey, by contrast, is a man whose inordinate faith in his own abilities is matched only by an incompetence which will surely doom his business career to failure. Much of the humour derives from the bizarre nouvelle cuisine dishes he takes a perverse pleasure in devising. (Saveloy on a bed of lychees, anyone?) When Aubrey's business does not work out as well as he hoped he takes refuge in alcohol.
The film is as much about Andy's home life as his work life, if not more so. His two daughters, although twins, are completely unlike both in looks and in character. Natalie, crop-haired and chunky, is a tomboy who works as a plumber and spends her leisure time playing pool and drinking with her male workmates. Nicola, who is unemployed, is extremely thin, a sufferer from bulimia and a chain-smoker. Whereas Natalie is relatively placid, Nicola is neurotic, bitter, foul-tempered and much given to hurling abuse at her family and acquaintances. She claims to believe in various left-wing causes- "capitalist!" is her favourite insult for her father because of his business ambitions- but never does anything active to further them. Natalie does not appear to have any romantic interests in her life- none of her male drinking chums count as boyfriends, and although some have seen her as a stereotypically "butch" lesbian, she has no girlfriends either. Nicola, by contrast, has an active sex life, although a rather odd one- she likes her rather reluctant boyfriend to smear chocolate spread over her chest.
The two acting performances which really stand out come from Spall as Aubrey- a brilliant comic creation- and Jane Horrocks as Nicola, an equally brilliant tragi-comic one. The film is, however, really an good example of ensemble acting, and there are also great contributions from Steadman as Wendy and Broadbent as Andy.
With its general theme of frustrated ambition and a character as unbalanced as Nicola, "Life is Sweet" could easily have been made as a tragedy. Yet that title is not meant ironically. Leigh might not be a large-C Conservative, but this film suggests that he is a small-c conservative when it comes to family values, and the film is very much about family life. For all their eccentricities, the family at the centre of "Life is Sweet" is not intended to be portrayed as a dysfunctional one. It is a family that functions, although in ways that outsiders might perceive as strange. The sensible, steadfast Wendy and Andy, who beneath some surface peculiarities is a deeply caring man, have an unconditional love for their daughters. They are prepared to make allowances for Nicola's behaviour, which is the result of emotional insecurities rather than spitefulness or malevolence. "We don't hate you! We bloody love you, you stupid girl!" (We learn that Wendy got pregnant with the twins as an unmarried teenager but refused to have an abortion because of a belief in the sanctity of life).
After all the storms, the film ends on a note of calm and hopefulness. This is one of the most distinctive, and one of the best, British social comedies from the early nineties. 8/10
I had to watch it twice...
AlsExGal31 May 2021
... as is the case with many films in the Criterion collection, because this film does not set things up nicely for you. It is a slow reveal for all of the characters with the basic theme of "hope springs eternal" or maybe "Life is what you make of it". So after I had gotten a feel for the characters I went back and rewatched it to see what I didn't pick up the first time.
The focus of the film is a working class London family. Wendy works in a shop as a salesperson. Her husband is a chef in a restaurant. They got married at 17 - with her having to drop out of college - due to her pregnancy that produced twin girls. You'd think then that this would be about their disappointment with how their lives turned out, but they are almost annoyingly positive. Wendy is the strong one, always smiling. Husband Andy is also always smiling and seems easily led by his friends. He just never gets around to fixing things around the house, and one friend (Stephen Rea), an obvious con artist, works his magic on Andy and gets him to spend money he does not have on a broken down fast food van. Andy has dreams of fixing it up and going into business for himself as he hates his job. And oddly enough Wendy doesn't explode at this expense and is very supportive. She seems to laugh her way through life.
One thing that she can't laugh through though is her daughter Nicola. She is about twenty, anorexic, a chain smoker, and completely hostile to everybody. She just sits in her room all day blurting out insults to everybody. You wonder if she is starving herself in hopes she will eventually just disappear. The other daughter seems well adjusted enough and is working as a plumber. She seems sexually ambiguous, and though nothing in the plot goes in that direction, I had to wonder if that is just me stereotyping or if it is the fact the film is 30 years old and films stereotyped too back in those days.
The family's other friend is Aubrey whose "big dream" is a Parisian themed restaurant. But his taste in decor is bizarre and tacky, he selects employees based on tenuous personal connections, and he has placed his restaurant between two businesses that would not bring foot traffic - one is a medical equipment supplier, and he has forgotten to advertise the restaurant. The result is disastrous.
The best scene in the film is one between Patsy and Nicola in which they finally have a confrontation. So much of what I have said is explained in just this one scene. Patsy does have an inner core, she can be serious and Nicola can be reached, whether she wants to admit it or not. Somebody should have gotten an Academy Award nomination just for this scene.
If you don't like this the first time, then give it a second try. I think it will grow on you.
The focus of the film is a working class London family. Wendy works in a shop as a salesperson. Her husband is a chef in a restaurant. They got married at 17 - with her having to drop out of college - due to her pregnancy that produced twin girls. You'd think then that this would be about their disappointment with how their lives turned out, but they are almost annoyingly positive. Wendy is the strong one, always smiling. Husband Andy is also always smiling and seems easily led by his friends. He just never gets around to fixing things around the house, and one friend (Stephen Rea), an obvious con artist, works his magic on Andy and gets him to spend money he does not have on a broken down fast food van. Andy has dreams of fixing it up and going into business for himself as he hates his job. And oddly enough Wendy doesn't explode at this expense and is very supportive. She seems to laugh her way through life.
One thing that she can't laugh through though is her daughter Nicola. She is about twenty, anorexic, a chain smoker, and completely hostile to everybody. She just sits in her room all day blurting out insults to everybody. You wonder if she is starving herself in hopes she will eventually just disappear. The other daughter seems well adjusted enough and is working as a plumber. She seems sexually ambiguous, and though nothing in the plot goes in that direction, I had to wonder if that is just me stereotyping or if it is the fact the film is 30 years old and films stereotyped too back in those days.
The family's other friend is Aubrey whose "big dream" is a Parisian themed restaurant. But his taste in decor is bizarre and tacky, he selects employees based on tenuous personal connections, and he has placed his restaurant between two businesses that would not bring foot traffic - one is a medical equipment supplier, and he has forgotten to advertise the restaurant. The result is disastrous.
The best scene in the film is one between Patsy and Nicola in which they finally have a confrontation. So much of what I have said is explained in just this one scene. Patsy does have an inner core, she can be serious and Nicola can be reached, whether she wants to admit it or not. Somebody should have gotten an Academy Award nomination just for this scene.
If you don't like this the first time, then give it a second try. I think it will grow on you.
Sometimes the best movies...
cwej114 March 2004
...are the small ones.
Mike Leigh worked with his relatively small cast (five main cast members and about four supporting cast members), improvising characters, devising scenarios and plots, and came up with this; one of his earliest masterpieces.
The plot is simple enough. A couple of days in the life of a working class London family. There isn't really a plot as such. A couple of fairly deep issues are dealt with, such as eating disorders and depression, but other than a few moments, all we are doing is watching a family live their life: a strong hard-working mother (Alison Steadman); a weaker easily-led by his mates father (Jim Broadbent); and their twin daughters: Natalie (Claire Skinner) - resourceful and kind-hearted but with a strange tendency to wear men's shirts and down pints - and Nicola (Jane Horrocks) - screwed up, rude, irrational and painfully insecure in both her looks and her intelligence.
The performances brought out by this form of filmmaking are superb - as they are in all of Leigh's movies (Secrets & Lies, Career Girls and All Or Nothing are all worthy of viewing, but especially Secrets & Lies). However, Alison Steadman is the standout (perhaps for no other reason than she has the most screen time), the driving force that brings all the family together. The scene in which she finally cracks and loses that nervous laugh to tell Nicola a few home truths and break down the barriers that Nicola has put up between herself and the rest of the world, is so beautifully written and terrifically performed that it is a shame that Steadman in particular was not Oscar-nominated.
Only one or two criticisms struck me. One was a slight lack of development of the other daughter. What exactly DOES make her tick? Am I merely stereotyping by assuming she is supposed to be a lesbian? Or is she just happy being so masculine in her dress-sense and mannerisms - (she isn't even offended by a client who calls her a 'good lad')? We never find out, because the film focuses a little more on her sister. It certainly appears that her mother suspects her daughter of being gay, but for some reason the subject is never brought up.
Similarly, a couple of loose ends are never tied up. The caravan and the restaurant in particular. But I guess we have the prerogative to make our own endings up haven't we, so that's a good thing in many ways.
I think at the end of the day, people will either like all of Mike Leigh's films or none of them. And I'm in the former group. His work is beautiful and always touching.
Mike Leigh worked with his relatively small cast (five main cast members and about four supporting cast members), improvising characters, devising scenarios and plots, and came up with this; one of his earliest masterpieces.
The plot is simple enough. A couple of days in the life of a working class London family. There isn't really a plot as such. A couple of fairly deep issues are dealt with, such as eating disorders and depression, but other than a few moments, all we are doing is watching a family live their life: a strong hard-working mother (Alison Steadman); a weaker easily-led by his mates father (Jim Broadbent); and their twin daughters: Natalie (Claire Skinner) - resourceful and kind-hearted but with a strange tendency to wear men's shirts and down pints - and Nicola (Jane Horrocks) - screwed up, rude, irrational and painfully insecure in both her looks and her intelligence.
The performances brought out by this form of filmmaking are superb - as they are in all of Leigh's movies (Secrets & Lies, Career Girls and All Or Nothing are all worthy of viewing, but especially Secrets & Lies). However, Alison Steadman is the standout (perhaps for no other reason than she has the most screen time), the driving force that brings all the family together. The scene in which she finally cracks and loses that nervous laugh to tell Nicola a few home truths and break down the barriers that Nicola has put up between herself and the rest of the world, is so beautifully written and terrifically performed that it is a shame that Steadman in particular was not Oscar-nominated.
Only one or two criticisms struck me. One was a slight lack of development of the other daughter. What exactly DOES make her tick? Am I merely stereotyping by assuming she is supposed to be a lesbian? Or is she just happy being so masculine in her dress-sense and mannerisms - (she isn't even offended by a client who calls her a 'good lad')? We never find out, because the film focuses a little more on her sister. It certainly appears that her mother suspects her daughter of being gay, but for some reason the subject is never brought up.
Similarly, a couple of loose ends are never tied up. The caravan and the restaurant in particular. But I guess we have the prerogative to make our own endings up haven't we, so that's a good thing in many ways.
I think at the end of the day, people will either like all of Mike Leigh's films or none of them. And I'm in the former group. His work is beautiful and always touching.
heartbreakingly real...
itspoop19 November 2006
this is another one of those movies that i loved so much the first time i saw it, i cried in the theater, went home, came back the next day with a friend in tow.
unlike the other movies i did this with (raising Arizona, after hours), the person i saw it with actually got the movie the first time, and loved it as much as i did. yes, naked and Topsy turvy got all the praise, but this is my favorite Leigh movie. it is just so...sweet.
i would talk about this movie years after seeing it saying that it was so heartbreakingly real, if you cut the screen, it would bleed. the was something so compelling about everyone in this movie. someone said they were pathetic, but i couldn't say i saw it like that. they were just flawed people doing the best they could. to me that is so beautiful. for years i would wish that America had a real working class director like mike Leigh. someone who showed people struggling. we need it so very badly, as the aftermath of Katrina can attest to. we forget our poor over here.
the funniest thing was i wold watch this movie when i got depressed, and it made me feel less alone. it cheered me up.
unlike the other movies i did this with (raising Arizona, after hours), the person i saw it with actually got the movie the first time, and loved it as much as i did. yes, naked and Topsy turvy got all the praise, but this is my favorite Leigh movie. it is just so...sweet.
i would talk about this movie years after seeing it saying that it was so heartbreakingly real, if you cut the screen, it would bleed. the was something so compelling about everyone in this movie. someone said they were pathetic, but i couldn't say i saw it like that. they were just flawed people doing the best they could. to me that is so beautiful. for years i would wish that America had a real working class director like mike Leigh. someone who showed people struggling. we need it so very badly, as the aftermath of Katrina can attest to. we forget our poor over here.
the funniest thing was i wold watch this movie when i got depressed, and it made me feel less alone. it cheered me up.
"Aubrey's in a coma, he doesn't want any chips!"
andyfennessy24 January 2003
A superb example of Mike Leigh's directing method - working with his actors, many of them regulars, making up most of the script as they go along.
No falling empires or coveted magical rings here, just the small victories and tiny despairs of everyday life - Timothy Spall's ridiculous restaurant ("Liver in Lager"??), Jane Horrocks' eating disorder and general estrangement from the world, Jim Broadbent and his grimy little burger van, Clair Skinner's endearingly sensible tomboy plumber... all exquisite little portraits. Best of all is Alison Steadman as the suburban Earth-mother trying to hold it all together.
It shows, above all, that a great film can be about anything really, as long as the direction, acting and script is of this calibre. Ben Hur, it ain't!
Absolutely marvelous - 9/10.
No falling empires or coveted magical rings here, just the small victories and tiny despairs of everyday life - Timothy Spall's ridiculous restaurant ("Liver in Lager"??), Jane Horrocks' eating disorder and general estrangement from the world, Jim Broadbent and his grimy little burger van, Clair Skinner's endearingly sensible tomboy plumber... all exquisite little portraits. Best of all is Alison Steadman as the suburban Earth-mother trying to hold it all together.
It shows, above all, that a great film can be about anything really, as long as the direction, acting and script is of this calibre. Ben Hur, it ain't!
Absolutely marvelous - 9/10.
a good introduction for newcomers to Mike Leigh
mjneu591 December 2010
British director Mike Leigh presents yet another optimistically titled working-class comedy, set in a humdrum suburban London neighborhood where life, at times is anything but sweet. The film showcases Leigh's pre-occupation with (typically British) dysfunctional family life: dad's an underachiever; mum's a working housewife; but both are able to maintain remarkably high spirits after raising twin teenage daughters, one a demure apprentice plumber and the other an anti-social, bulimic, post-punk dropout. Except for a lack of political criticism the film could almost be a matching bookend to Leigh's previous 'High Hopes'. Both films share a sense of humor rooted in the director's keen observations of daily life at its lowest common denominator, with a story drawn around simple, memorable characters created (as in every Mike Leigh movie) by the entire cast before a script was even written.
Extra-ordinary
Darren-1223 November 2000
I often fantasise about directing a movie (yes, I know I'm sad!), and I would like to think that my movies would come out like Mike Leigh's: affectionate without being sentimental, funny without crossing over into out-and-out comedy, realistic without being bleak or depressing.
This portrayal of an "ordinary" English family is everything a film ought to be. Great acting - Alison Steadman in particular - her character's relentless optimism and cheerfulness interspersed with knowing when a situation needs to be treated more seriously; Jim Broadbent as the day-dreaming father and Jane Horrocks as the anorexic Nicola. All the characters are beautifully drawn, including the minor characters (Timothy Spall as doomed chef Aubrey, Stephen Rea as dodgy-dealer Patsy, David Thewlis as Nicola's unnamed lover).
Some typical Leigh scenes include the excellently framed shot of the burger-van in the scrapyard (which could almost be a painting!), and the panning shot along the back of the row of houses (implying that similar dramas are unfolding in everyone's lives).
Not much actually happens, but that's part of the point - it takes in themes of happiness, hopes and dreams, friendship and family ties. Clearly a precursor to "Secrets And Lies", this is a simpler, purer film, but with the same message of ultimate optimism.
This portrayal of an "ordinary" English family is everything a film ought to be. Great acting - Alison Steadman in particular - her character's relentless optimism and cheerfulness interspersed with knowing when a situation needs to be treated more seriously; Jim Broadbent as the day-dreaming father and Jane Horrocks as the anorexic Nicola. All the characters are beautifully drawn, including the minor characters (Timothy Spall as doomed chef Aubrey, Stephen Rea as dodgy-dealer Patsy, David Thewlis as Nicola's unnamed lover).
Some typical Leigh scenes include the excellently framed shot of the burger-van in the scrapyard (which could almost be a painting!), and the panning shot along the back of the row of houses (implying that similar dramas are unfolding in everyone's lives).
Not much actually happens, but that's part of the point - it takes in themes of happiness, hopes and dreams, friendship and family ties. Clearly a precursor to "Secrets And Lies", this is a simpler, purer film, but with the same message of ultimate optimism.
"All in the Family" English style
=G=30 August 2002
"Life is Sweet" meanders purposelessly from comedy into drama as it tells of a chapter in the life of an English family of four. On the up side, the film conjures up some funny moments mostly from its many quirky characters as it drifts into increasingly serious moments of drama. On the downside, the version I Tivo'd was technically inferior with muddled sound, poor quality video, no closed captions, and didn't end as much as it just quit leaving too many questions unanswered. Overall, "Life is Sweet" is a good attempt which ultimately fails to deliver in spite of its excellent cast, numerous awards, and modest critical acclaim. (C+)
Beautiful
bill-46120 March 2001
I'm starting to think that Mike Leigh could make a story about
boring people (like me) posting reviews online and make it and
them interesting. I don't think I'm being overly sentimental when I
say that, sometimes we need films that show us that, on the
whole, people are good and trying to do the best they can in a
difficult world. I don't see many directors who are willing to show
us flawed characters who fight through difficulties with heart and
humor and work things out without the aid of some ridiculous
device. Leigh is brave enough, creative enough and has enough
respect for his audience to show us, in Life is Sweet, that
sometimes caring and patience with those we love is our only
chance and what we are generally stuck with anyway.
boring people (like me) posting reviews online and make it and
them interesting. I don't think I'm being overly sentimental when I
say that, sometimes we need films that show us that, on the
whole, people are good and trying to do the best they can in a
difficult world. I don't see many directors who are willing to show
us flawed characters who fight through difficulties with heart and
humor and work things out without the aid of some ridiculous
device. Leigh is brave enough, creative enough and has enough
respect for his audience to show us, in Life is Sweet, that
sometimes caring and patience with those we love is our only
chance and what we are generally stuck with anyway.
How to make humdrum life an entertaining film
apjc21 March 2018
Mike Leigh is very good at this, he creates films that have no action or real plot to follow. He just portrays the every day humour, hopes, dreams and sometime drama that happen in any family. Easy to relate to, and with the pick of top rank British actors, easy to care about even if they at times seem annoying individuals. To put one aspect raised by others to bed, the daughter who dresses in " male " clothing is a plumber. I'm a joiner and we have 2 women in our firm, they dress like us males, work as hard, curse as hard and can drink us under the table. They are definitely not lesbian, maybe tomboys, but true feminists who will match the men whilst always liking them.
Best film of the year
dgtoneyjr19 September 2001
What can I say that previous fans of this movie have not said yet? I think that Mike Leigh is the best filmmaker working today. So, I won't bother rehashing the story line.
I am convinced even thinking back to 1991, when it was released in the US, that Life is Sweet was the best of that year. That year was remembered more for, among others, Schindler's List, The Remains of the Day and The Piano.
Alison Steadman seemingly insensitive lighthearted outlook on the world -laughing after nearly every sentence she or others utter, which incredibly I never tired of (an amazing feat), is all just her way of dealing with life. She sees it for what it is. The scene where she explains to her daughter Nicola how much of a sacrifice that she and her husband have made for the sake of their family is one of the most touching I have seen between a mother and daughter. I felt as though I was eaves-dropping while watching it. What a pleasure!
I am convinced even thinking back to 1991, when it was released in the US, that Life is Sweet was the best of that year. That year was remembered more for, among others, Schindler's List, The Remains of the Day and The Piano.
Alison Steadman seemingly insensitive lighthearted outlook on the world -laughing after nearly every sentence she or others utter, which incredibly I never tired of (an amazing feat), is all just her way of dealing with life. She sees it for what it is. The scene where she explains to her daughter Nicola how much of a sacrifice that she and her husband have made for the sake of their family is one of the most touching I have seen between a mother and daughter. I felt as though I was eaves-dropping while watching it. What a pleasure!
For Mike Leigh fans only
cherold1 May 2021
Disappointing
beresfordjd23 November 2014
I usually love Leigh's stuff. Grownups, Nuts in May and Abigail's Party are almost genius, but Life is Sweet is very disappointing. One can usually recognise the characters portrayed or even associate yourself with them or their situations but only Alison Steadman's character seems real. Jane Horrocks is really talented but her character here is too over the top with the most irritating voice since JarJar Binks!! Clare Skinner is good as Nicola's twin sister and they are uncannily alike. Yes they are ordinary working class people and their life is humdrum for the most part. Timothy Spall is wasted in an underplayed comic role which does not really work. The scene where Alison confronts her daughter, Nicola is a good one and reality shines through but for most of the film the parts are not as good as the whole.
A sublime slice of ordinary life from Mike Leigh
andrew-traynor19 September 2003
A sublime slice of ordinary life from Mike Leigh. He takes us through 5 days in the life of a London family: Jim Broadbent, Alison Steadman and their twin daughters Claire Skinner and Jane Horrox. What follows is by turns touching, hilarious and unsettling. Leigh is often compared to Ken Loach, but Loach deals with unspeakably grim and often melodramatic scenarios. The far more impressive gift of Leigh is to make tales from the apparently unremarkable. So many touches run true here; Steadman doing a little dance to herself alone in the kitchen, Broadbent and Stephen Rea drunkenly reciting the Spurs Double side, Skinner describing an arthritic old woman met on her plumbing round. And the tragedy of the film is also unveiled naturally and feels horribly believable.
The performances are also astonishing. Broadbent and Steadman, both distinctive actors, can descend into parody but here are just hugely enjoyable. Skinner is nicely deadpan but the star is Horrox, playing a twitching wreck of a girl who mainly communicates in one word insults. Little wonder she's been given so many chances to prove her talents subsequently, just a shame she's never taken them. The only false note is Tim Spall as a manic chef. Perhaps that's because he's simply put in for comic value (he was far better in Leigh's 'Secrets and Lies'), his character given none of the depth which lights up the rest of the film.
The performances are also astonishing. Broadbent and Steadman, both distinctive actors, can descend into parody but here are just hugely enjoyable. Skinner is nicely deadpan but the star is Horrox, playing a twitching wreck of a girl who mainly communicates in one word insults. Little wonder she's been given so many chances to prove her talents subsequently, just a shame she's never taken them. The only false note is Tim Spall as a manic chef. Perhaps that's because he's simply put in for comic value (he was far better in Leigh's 'Secrets and Lies'), his character given none of the depth which lights up the rest of the film.
Unpretentious but unforgettable domestic drama.
icon-75 September 1999
This unpredictable and hard-hitting film follows the lives of the fascinating characters who make up a lower-middle-class family. A character-based story, there really isn't a plot, as there isn't a plot in our everyday lives, but it is all the more interesting for that.
The parents are amicable beings: the mother Wendy a chirpy, motherly character (very well-acted), the father incredibly laid-back, yet hard-working at a job he hates. Their two daughters are like chalk and cheese: Natalie, a plumber, is quiet and practical (I thought she was a boy at first: hers is a curiously unsexed character) while Nicola is a complete mess.
The ugliness of true life is shown beside its mundane beauty. The shocking scenes of Nicola's self-torture (she is a secret bulimic) are juxtaposed with scenes of the mother dusting, and the ordinary cheerfulness of the rest of the family. A bizarre family friend, Aubrey, and his dream of running his own restaurant provide a subplot of sorts, but the domestic drama is far more interesting.
Horricks gives a startling good performance as the disturbed Nicola: she drips with self-loathing, but inspires pity. The most poignant scene is one in which her boyfriend, no Einstein himself, becomes fed up with her intense sexual demands, and asks her to prove her intelligence by having a real conversation with him. Nicola, whom we know is intelligent, cannot bring herself to do this: she is compelled to always show herself in the worst light. She can only mutter 'I AM intelligent' in a voice of despair. The boyfriend departs, leaving her in a state of even more intense self-hatred and depression. It is hard-hitting scenes like this one which stick in the memory.
The mother, Wendy, who appears a scatterbrain at first, emerges as a dignified, wise and compassionate woman, as she responds in a touching scene to her troubled daughter Nicola.
It's such a plain-looking film, yet it is striking because of the intensity of its characters, and the honesty of director Mike Leigh's observations. Although life is hard for the family, it is also sweet. That, I think, is Leigh's message.
The parents are amicable beings: the mother Wendy a chirpy, motherly character (very well-acted), the father incredibly laid-back, yet hard-working at a job he hates. Their two daughters are like chalk and cheese: Natalie, a plumber, is quiet and practical (I thought she was a boy at first: hers is a curiously unsexed character) while Nicola is a complete mess.
The ugliness of true life is shown beside its mundane beauty. The shocking scenes of Nicola's self-torture (she is a secret bulimic) are juxtaposed with scenes of the mother dusting, and the ordinary cheerfulness of the rest of the family. A bizarre family friend, Aubrey, and his dream of running his own restaurant provide a subplot of sorts, but the domestic drama is far more interesting.
Horricks gives a startling good performance as the disturbed Nicola: she drips with self-loathing, but inspires pity. The most poignant scene is one in which her boyfriend, no Einstein himself, becomes fed up with her intense sexual demands, and asks her to prove her intelligence by having a real conversation with him. Nicola, whom we know is intelligent, cannot bring herself to do this: she is compelled to always show herself in the worst light. She can only mutter 'I AM intelligent' in a voice of despair. The boyfriend departs, leaving her in a state of even more intense self-hatred and depression. It is hard-hitting scenes like this one which stick in the memory.
The mother, Wendy, who appears a scatterbrain at first, emerges as a dignified, wise and compassionate woman, as she responds in a touching scene to her troubled daughter Nicola.
It's such a plain-looking film, yet it is striking because of the intensity of its characters, and the honesty of director Mike Leigh's observations. Although life is hard for the family, it is also sweet. That, I think, is Leigh's message.
bitter-sweet more like...
Marty-G15 March 1999
Mike Leigh again shows a depth of characterisation in his movies that surpasses even the most revered of directors. "Life is Sweet" can make you laugh out loud at times, but underneath it all is this incredible blackness. These are three-dimensional characters. You feel they have a past and a future, you can see their quirks and foibles, and they are not glossed over. At times this is demanding viewing, these people are meant to irritate you... but people do in real life. So though it's not exactly escapist, some may unfairly conclude it doesn't entertain, but it still makes for compulsive viewing. You believe in these people, you want to them to sort themselves out. They are hopeless sometimes, yet underneath have such sensitivity, and it's not often a director can pull out such complexities as well as Mike Leigh can. This is a film that is in turns very funny, occasionally grating, emotionally charged, irritating and fascinating. When a film can provoke such a variety of emotions in its viewers, then it is definitely onto a good thing.
Bizarre
gavin694216 January 2014
Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, leads aerobics at a primary school, jokes like a vaudevillian, agrees to waitress at a friend's new restaurant and dotes on Andy, a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, and with a drunken friend, buys a broken down lunch wagon.
What to make of this film? It seems like the focus is on the twins and how different they are, while all the other characters are just background. Those two alone are quite striking, with one being a bulimic anarchist and the other an androgynous female who could be mistaken for a boy. What is to be made of them?
The title of the film can only be seen s ironic, as no one here is truly happy. Director Mike Leigh covers some of the same ground as he does in "Secrets and Lies", in that he explores the working class world of England. Although I do not think it is an intentional this time around, it is still unavoidable.
What to make of this film? It seems like the focus is on the twins and how different they are, while all the other characters are just background. Those two alone are quite striking, with one being a bulimic anarchist and the other an androgynous female who could be mistaken for a boy. What is to be made of them?
The title of the film can only be seen s ironic, as no one here is truly happy. Director Mike Leigh covers some of the same ground as he does in "Secrets and Lies", in that he explores the working class world of England. Although I do not think it is an intentional this time around, it is still unavoidable.
sublime - but qualification criteria may well apply
robt1354 February 2005
Just one of those films that is subjectively sublime. Honestly portrayed people just doing stuff and some of it going wrong and some of it going OK. Not sneering but celebrating a certain way of life, and so becoming a celebration of all our lives - maybe this borders into objectivity?
Funny and joyful - with what could pass as tragedy, but still funny. Plenty of the inter-personal stuff that is so often missed in pursuit of consensus cinema. The actors just appear like people that are just there - not acting but just doing things.
Reminded me of crying with laughter after getting caught putting dog-dirt (maybe not familiar with that term?) in my Grandad's petrol tank on the estate - kind of thing - like I say - subjective.
Funny and joyful - with what could pass as tragedy, but still funny. Plenty of the inter-personal stuff that is so often missed in pursuit of consensus cinema. The actors just appear like people that are just there - not acting but just doing things.
Reminded me of crying with laughter after getting caught putting dog-dirt (maybe not familiar with that term?) in my Grandad's petrol tank on the estate - kind of thing - like I say - subjective.
A crazy family's pursuit of happiness
denis-2379128 September 2020
Despite the lack of money, purpose, relationships, true connection, harmony and luck this extraordinary family living in very ordinary conditions doesn't give up and sticks together. Excellently played. Slow moving portrait of each family member with surprising and fun moments. Little suspense though and no real beginning or end.
in brief: being alive itself should be sweet, whether it always is or not
Quinoa19843 August 2017
The first question is: is the title ironic or sincere? I think for Leigh there's not an ironic bone in his body, and this is despite (or maybe because?) of the fact that his film, like many of his others, are people who may be pleasant and joyful and get by just fine but others are probably, maybe, definitely, messed up. But he loves all of the people in the worlds he creates - and, as has been reported to death, how his process is one where he makes it totally inclusive with the actors as they develop characters and the scenarios over a year or so - and it's usually a matter of... how does this person realize the other needs or wants something, desperately, simply? Life is Sweet is a wonderful example of the kind of film Mike Leigh is usually associated with making, and is deeper and (in a good way) more difficult emotionally than you might expect on first glance.
The family includes Wendy, the mother (Steadman), father Andy (Broadbent), and twin daughters Natalie and Nicola (Skinner and Harrocks respectively). They seem to be a fairly conventional (lower) middle class family in a town in England, where Andy has some big ideas for a food truck he buys sort of on a whim from slightly-shady, so-dated-in-a-windbreaker Stephen Rea (so unlike how I've seen him in other parts, which is great), and Wendy, who sometimes works with kids but also tries to help friend(?) of the family Aubrey (Timothy Spall in a delightfully daffy, sometimes angry and occasionally drunk performance unlike any I've seen before) who tries to open his own restaurant, is the kind of person you or I know who laughs at a lot of things. Sometimes, whether intentional or unintentional, that includes the daughter Nicola who is, really, the depressed and tortured heart of the film.
Oh, she might bring some of it on herself, one might say, seeing as she's an anorexic/bulimic girl (only the sister seems to know she does this, hearing her vomit in her bedroom next over, or at least is the only one who asks), and from the start she comes off as, to put it lightly, a basket case. But Leigh not once, not ever, does he judge her as a filmmaker - some of the other characters might, but that's another matter, and one that creates some mild comic but also dramatic tension in some scenes - as she comes off as pushy and antagonistic, but also that she is so young and mixed up in a lot of ways, not the least sexually (her scenes with Thewlis as her sort- of-boyfriend have a sharp charge of energy between them, how he's with her and why he puts up with her, or why she allows him to say the things he does, is fascinating).
And Harrocks gives it her all, and I'm sure that delighted Leigh to see what lengths she as well as Spall and, in their own way, Broadbent and Steadman went in their performances. The main problem that the characters face here, or at least the mother does as someone who has emotional intelligence but not always the words to communicate well, is how to speak how they're actually feeling. It's not just a British thing either, it's universal for parents to not always know what to say to their children, if they're not as functional as they're expected or a bit "unusual." But it's more than that too; throughout the film we're seeing people trying to have what they want, whether it's the father with his food truck (it's a fixer-upper, and some day he'll do it, maybe), or Aubrey with his restaurant that (on the first night, but we may think it'll be this way for a while) no one comes in, or some others.
The focus is small and the character moments are all intimate in one way or another, and it eventually does build to a very dramatic moment between mother and daughter. What's remarkable is that it's not the kind of ending that might come in a lessor (maybe American?) movie where things end neat and tidy; there's the sense that there is still a *lot* of work to be done between these characters, and this family, and with Nicola and her uncertainty about herself (whether that involves therapy who can say), but it's really about... start trying, and work from there.
One last thing - Dick Pope was cinematographer on this. Seeing this just a week after seeing Baby Driver again... this man was versatile as all get out. What an amazing eye and gift with a camera; and here it's subtle because it's so character driven, but every moment has motivation, every time he and Leigh stay on a character or two characters it matters.
The family includes Wendy, the mother (Steadman), father Andy (Broadbent), and twin daughters Natalie and Nicola (Skinner and Harrocks respectively). They seem to be a fairly conventional (lower) middle class family in a town in England, where Andy has some big ideas for a food truck he buys sort of on a whim from slightly-shady, so-dated-in-a-windbreaker Stephen Rea (so unlike how I've seen him in other parts, which is great), and Wendy, who sometimes works with kids but also tries to help friend(?) of the family Aubrey (Timothy Spall in a delightfully daffy, sometimes angry and occasionally drunk performance unlike any I've seen before) who tries to open his own restaurant, is the kind of person you or I know who laughs at a lot of things. Sometimes, whether intentional or unintentional, that includes the daughter Nicola who is, really, the depressed and tortured heart of the film.
Oh, she might bring some of it on herself, one might say, seeing as she's an anorexic/bulimic girl (only the sister seems to know she does this, hearing her vomit in her bedroom next over, or at least is the only one who asks), and from the start she comes off as, to put it lightly, a basket case. But Leigh not once, not ever, does he judge her as a filmmaker - some of the other characters might, but that's another matter, and one that creates some mild comic but also dramatic tension in some scenes - as she comes off as pushy and antagonistic, but also that she is so young and mixed up in a lot of ways, not the least sexually (her scenes with Thewlis as her sort- of-boyfriend have a sharp charge of energy between them, how he's with her and why he puts up with her, or why she allows him to say the things he does, is fascinating).
And Harrocks gives it her all, and I'm sure that delighted Leigh to see what lengths she as well as Spall and, in their own way, Broadbent and Steadman went in their performances. The main problem that the characters face here, or at least the mother does as someone who has emotional intelligence but not always the words to communicate well, is how to speak how they're actually feeling. It's not just a British thing either, it's universal for parents to not always know what to say to their children, if they're not as functional as they're expected or a bit "unusual." But it's more than that too; throughout the film we're seeing people trying to have what they want, whether it's the father with his food truck (it's a fixer-upper, and some day he'll do it, maybe), or Aubrey with his restaurant that (on the first night, but we may think it'll be this way for a while) no one comes in, or some others.
The focus is small and the character moments are all intimate in one way or another, and it eventually does build to a very dramatic moment between mother and daughter. What's remarkable is that it's not the kind of ending that might come in a lessor (maybe American?) movie where things end neat and tidy; there's the sense that there is still a *lot* of work to be done between these characters, and this family, and with Nicola and her uncertainty about herself (whether that involves therapy who can say), but it's really about... start trying, and work from there.
One last thing - Dick Pope was cinematographer on this. Seeing this just a week after seeing Baby Driver again... this man was versatile as all get out. What an amazing eye and gift with a camera; and here it's subtle because it's so character driven, but every moment has motivation, every time he and Leigh stay on a character or two characters it matters.
Another Great Film from Mike Leigh
elfry8218 November 1998
Mike Leigh treats us to another masterpiece with Life is Sweet, a superb tale of about 4 days in the life of a family in upper-lower-middle class England. Actors in this film really show their full range when scenes go from powerful to hilarious.
Life isn't always sweet for sour souls...
ElMaruecan8231 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I've got to be honest, there were moments where I could never figure whether I was experiencing "Life is Sweet" or enduring it, a sort of built in resistance to bizarreness.
Andy (Jim Broadbent) and Wendy (Alison Steadham) are typical working-class husband and wife, the big bear of a man is a cook in a catering facility (and no pun intended) brings the bacon home and his tendency to procrastinate when it comes to the gardening chores are quite relatable and so is Wendy's good-natured attitude, that matches her children-related jobs. In a not too flashy way, both actors are funny, heart-warming and illuminate the film with their presence and they're 'normal' enough to comfort me that I'm watching a slice-of-life drama, but this is not the right mindset to enjoy a Mike Leigh's film. You've got to expect some bit of eccentricity and see how that affects your very perception of social norms (and how you eventually stand between them).
And so we get to the twin daughters Natalie (Claire Skinner) and Nicola (Jane Horrocks), one is a tomboyish hardly-smiling plumber, quite respectful toward her parents and dreaming of visiting the USA. She's doing well, is quite contented with her life, somehow I was certain Mike Leigh was insinuating a certain inclination in Natalie but nothing is definite in her characters and within the film, it's irrelevant, Natalie is asexual. Nicola is not. In fact, she's the kind of individuals you can only describe by negatives: never happy, never hungry, never cooperative etc. We learn later that she finds herself fat and ugly, goes into eating binges at night to make herself vomit (to Natalie's knowledge), in fact she's also ideologically bulimic, swallowing political slogans and 90s antisocial trends before regurgitating them to the face of capitalists or men (chauvinist pigs or potential rapists) whenever she's got the chance.
One can imagine the further damages the Internet might have caused in Nicola. I read critics saying that Wendy was the 'emotional' core of the film, that would make Nicola the emotional knot, the riddle that the family couldn't solve for years but this aspect isn't left clear until the middle section of the film and I wasn't too sure whether they were in their teenage years or not, which made some interactions between Nicola and other men quite creepy until I realized she's in her 20s.
Once the family is set up, there are two other guys making their entrance, a friend of Andy named Patsy (Stephen Rea) who sells him a dilapidated hotdog stand and Aubrey (Timothy Spall) who's opening a French restaurant 'nouvelle cuisine' like for snobbish yuppies. The film works through many parallels but at the risk of sounding superficial, I was wondering why Patsy had to be so drunk and Aubrey needed so 'weird' for lack of a better word, It's like Spall exaggerated every possible trait to make his characters funny but not in the way you laugh with the character. I read about Leigh's method and the way he lets actors improvise from the scratch but sometimes there's a limit to how much idiosyncrasy I can handle.
And so when you try to understand what's eating Nicola, how Natalie can help her, the film distracts you with a whole middle-plot involving the opening of Aubrey's restaurant, his frustration because her waitress left him and his sous chef (Moya Brady) is as cheerful as a prison gate, the sequence is intercut with a nice buddy chat between Patsy and Andy about the good old days of football and after Spall's shenanigans, I was secretly thanking Leigh for that small oasis of normality. I hate that word 'normality' by the way, I understand that the purpose of a film is to open a new window to the world and allow you to embrace the poignancy of people who are outcasts or perceive themselves so. But there was something so off-putting in Spall's character as if he was meant as the film's butt joke (there's a scene where Wendy and Andy do mock his voice and accent)
Even Nicola's secret lover played by David Thewlys and who irritated me with his constant chewing, became a more discerning person in his second scene with Nicola, criticizing her for never having a constructive talk with him, calling her feminist bluff and finally dismissing her as an empty shell, thus aggravating her misery. Which leads her to the inevitable breakdown. Like for Aubrey, there's that final moment of truth where the can of frustrations had been shaken just too much and the pain can only implode. Like for Aubrey, Wendy was present in both moments but the difference is that Wendy can't let her down, she's her daughter and that moment with all the desperation of Nicola's distress was the emotional culmination I'd been waited for, after that, I wished nothing would happen and seeing her getting along with her father and her sister was the best ending I could wish for.
(Yes, it's one of these strange ironies that the day the father slipped on a spoon and broke his leg might be the most important of a family's life, but then again, isn't the title a bit ironic?)
Leigh covered the suburban working-class of London with an eye full of compassion and the kind of fascination that is not without revulsion and I'm sad that Spall is the one whose capability to get off his state of loser doesn't leave much for optimism, and in a certain way reflects the underlying theme of the film: family and the capability for giving and forgiving...
"Life is Sweet" contains some great moments and I wish I could love it even more, but I'm going to end this with what should come as a compliment from me: this is the closest to a Cassavettes a film ever got (and like Leigh, I'm a fan of Cassavetes).
Andy (Jim Broadbent) and Wendy (Alison Steadham) are typical working-class husband and wife, the big bear of a man is a cook in a catering facility (and no pun intended) brings the bacon home and his tendency to procrastinate when it comes to the gardening chores are quite relatable and so is Wendy's good-natured attitude, that matches her children-related jobs. In a not too flashy way, both actors are funny, heart-warming and illuminate the film with their presence and they're 'normal' enough to comfort me that I'm watching a slice-of-life drama, but this is not the right mindset to enjoy a Mike Leigh's film. You've got to expect some bit of eccentricity and see how that affects your very perception of social norms (and how you eventually stand between them).
And so we get to the twin daughters Natalie (Claire Skinner) and Nicola (Jane Horrocks), one is a tomboyish hardly-smiling plumber, quite respectful toward her parents and dreaming of visiting the USA. She's doing well, is quite contented with her life, somehow I was certain Mike Leigh was insinuating a certain inclination in Natalie but nothing is definite in her characters and within the film, it's irrelevant, Natalie is asexual. Nicola is not. In fact, she's the kind of individuals you can only describe by negatives: never happy, never hungry, never cooperative etc. We learn later that she finds herself fat and ugly, goes into eating binges at night to make herself vomit (to Natalie's knowledge), in fact she's also ideologically bulimic, swallowing political slogans and 90s antisocial trends before regurgitating them to the face of capitalists or men (chauvinist pigs or potential rapists) whenever she's got the chance.
One can imagine the further damages the Internet might have caused in Nicola. I read critics saying that Wendy was the 'emotional' core of the film, that would make Nicola the emotional knot, the riddle that the family couldn't solve for years but this aspect isn't left clear until the middle section of the film and I wasn't too sure whether they were in their teenage years or not, which made some interactions between Nicola and other men quite creepy until I realized she's in her 20s.
Once the family is set up, there are two other guys making their entrance, a friend of Andy named Patsy (Stephen Rea) who sells him a dilapidated hotdog stand and Aubrey (Timothy Spall) who's opening a French restaurant 'nouvelle cuisine' like for snobbish yuppies. The film works through many parallels but at the risk of sounding superficial, I was wondering why Patsy had to be so drunk and Aubrey needed so 'weird' for lack of a better word, It's like Spall exaggerated every possible trait to make his characters funny but not in the way you laugh with the character. I read about Leigh's method and the way he lets actors improvise from the scratch but sometimes there's a limit to how much idiosyncrasy I can handle.
And so when you try to understand what's eating Nicola, how Natalie can help her, the film distracts you with a whole middle-plot involving the opening of Aubrey's restaurant, his frustration because her waitress left him and his sous chef (Moya Brady) is as cheerful as a prison gate, the sequence is intercut with a nice buddy chat between Patsy and Andy about the good old days of football and after Spall's shenanigans, I was secretly thanking Leigh for that small oasis of normality. I hate that word 'normality' by the way, I understand that the purpose of a film is to open a new window to the world and allow you to embrace the poignancy of people who are outcasts or perceive themselves so. But there was something so off-putting in Spall's character as if he was meant as the film's butt joke (there's a scene where Wendy and Andy do mock his voice and accent)
Even Nicola's secret lover played by David Thewlys and who irritated me with his constant chewing, became a more discerning person in his second scene with Nicola, criticizing her for never having a constructive talk with him, calling her feminist bluff and finally dismissing her as an empty shell, thus aggravating her misery. Which leads her to the inevitable breakdown. Like for Aubrey, there's that final moment of truth where the can of frustrations had been shaken just too much and the pain can only implode. Like for Aubrey, Wendy was present in both moments but the difference is that Wendy can't let her down, she's her daughter and that moment with all the desperation of Nicola's distress was the emotional culmination I'd been waited for, after that, I wished nothing would happen and seeing her getting along with her father and her sister was the best ending I could wish for.
(Yes, it's one of these strange ironies that the day the father slipped on a spoon and broke his leg might be the most important of a family's life, but then again, isn't the title a bit ironic?)
Leigh covered the suburban working-class of London with an eye full of compassion and the kind of fascination that is not without revulsion and I'm sad that Spall is the one whose capability to get off his state of loser doesn't leave much for optimism, and in a certain way reflects the underlying theme of the film: family and the capability for giving and forgiving...
"Life is Sweet" contains some great moments and I wish I could love it even more, but I'm going to end this with what should come as a compliment from me: this is the closest to a Cassavettes a film ever got (and like Leigh, I'm a fan of Cassavetes).
When chocolate bars were a proper size!
adamjohns-4257515 July 2022
Life Is Sweet (1990) -
It was obvious that it's a Mike Leigh film from the beginning, even if you missed his name in the credits, you couldn't dispute that it was one of his works.
It's his take on a snapshot of suburban life in the late eighties/early nineties and in its depiction it felt like a feature length episode of 'The Royle Family' (1998-2012) and in some respects a pre-cursor to 'Gavin & Stacey' (2007-19). Utilising extreme stereotypes from a poorer/less affluent background in a way that, in my opinion, showed up the British and almost glorified the lifestyle and situation.
And it may not have been, but a lot of it seemed ad-libbed, which can sometimes work, but in this instance it all felt like Alison Steadman was just rabbiting on and laughing with Jim Broadbent like idiots.
I don't think that I laughed once though and I would find it hard to categorise it as a comedy, but rather a cringey tragedy.
I actually look at this film and wonder how Timothy Spall and Jim got so much work afterwards, but based on the ceremonies of the time giving Jane Horrocks numerous awards for her performance, they obviously had different ideas about acting back in 1990.
Although I usually love her, Jane was a bit much in this one. She's very exaggerated and her voice didn't sound very real.
Claire Skinner on the other hand was understated and quiet, but great in her part according to my standards. Under-appreciated as an actress I think and far more natural than the rest of the entire cast.
Tim was a bit of a caricature too. It was quite possibly his worst performance for me and I've seen 'Mr Turner'. Although he wasn't quite so loathsome or idiotic in that.
Jim was Jim, but Alison delivered a good show, apart from the silly giggling.
As for the story, it didn't do anything, it had no point to it and did nothing for me at all. I suppose that if you look upon it as a piece that captured a period in time and the lives of a working class family, with their various issues, then it did the job for future historians to explain that once upon a time, you could get a Mars Bar big enough that it was actually worth eating. Actually, the nostalgia of a Woolworths carrier bag and a remembrance of the food packaging of the time probably intrigued me the most about the entire film.
Maybe I missed something, but even Mike Leigh says it's the worst of his films.
235.06/1000.
It was obvious that it's a Mike Leigh film from the beginning, even if you missed his name in the credits, you couldn't dispute that it was one of his works.
It's his take on a snapshot of suburban life in the late eighties/early nineties and in its depiction it felt like a feature length episode of 'The Royle Family' (1998-2012) and in some respects a pre-cursor to 'Gavin & Stacey' (2007-19). Utilising extreme stereotypes from a poorer/less affluent background in a way that, in my opinion, showed up the British and almost glorified the lifestyle and situation.
And it may not have been, but a lot of it seemed ad-libbed, which can sometimes work, but in this instance it all felt like Alison Steadman was just rabbiting on and laughing with Jim Broadbent like idiots.
I don't think that I laughed once though and I would find it hard to categorise it as a comedy, but rather a cringey tragedy.
I actually look at this film and wonder how Timothy Spall and Jim got so much work afterwards, but based on the ceremonies of the time giving Jane Horrocks numerous awards for her performance, they obviously had different ideas about acting back in 1990.
Although I usually love her, Jane was a bit much in this one. She's very exaggerated and her voice didn't sound very real.
Claire Skinner on the other hand was understated and quiet, but great in her part according to my standards. Under-appreciated as an actress I think and far more natural than the rest of the entire cast.
Tim was a bit of a caricature too. It was quite possibly his worst performance for me and I've seen 'Mr Turner'. Although he wasn't quite so loathsome or idiotic in that.
Jim was Jim, but Alison delivered a good show, apart from the silly giggling.
As for the story, it didn't do anything, it had no point to it and did nothing for me at all. I suppose that if you look upon it as a piece that captured a period in time and the lives of a working class family, with their various issues, then it did the job for future historians to explain that once upon a time, you could get a Mars Bar big enough that it was actually worth eating. Actually, the nostalgia of a Woolworths carrier bag and a remembrance of the food packaging of the time probably intrigued me the most about the entire film.
Maybe I missed something, but even Mike Leigh says it's the worst of his films.
235.06/1000.
Bittersweet Simplicity
truemythmedia24 June 2019
Mike Leigh is one of my favorite contemporary directors (right up there with Oliver Assayas). I know he wont be everyone's cup of tea- I'm sure plenty of people will find his stories rather slow and meandering, but I find them humble, charming, wonderfully poignant, often funny, and above all heartfelt and honest. This film, like many of his other films is one that I'll revisit again because of the beauty Leigh finds in simplicity.
For our full review of Life is Sweet and hundreds of other reviews, articles, and podcast episodes visit True Myth Media!
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