All or Nothing (2002)

So, with Criterion's upcoming...well, Criterion's new release of Naked (damn, that one snuck up on me), I decided to go back to some of Mike Leigh's films. I'd already seen Vera Drake, which was very good, and despite my not writing about it, it was one of the films that inspired me to start this blog. I decided on All or Nothing rather than Secrets and Lies, simply because it sounded more interesting to me at the time. And lucky me, I found All or Nothing to be a really enjoyable, emotional look into the lives of people who could easily be real.

It presents a very real, very honest portrait of lower-middle-class folks living in the UK. What impressed me most was the mundanity of the characters in the film. None of them are glamourized or romantic in any way, they're just normal people with their own share of faults. In fact, most of them don't do much to win our sympathy, because they're mostly all pretty selfish and stuck up. But, it's a testament to the reality of the story that despite that, we do feel for them when tragedy befalls them.

There's this great moment late in the film, after Phil and Penny have exchanged words, where Penny retreats upstairs to her daughter, Rachel, for comfort. She asks Rachel if she does talk to Phil like he claimed, and she tells her honestly that it's true. Instead of placating her mother, she tells her the bare truth, knowing that it's the best thing to do in the long run. Penny gets up, realizing that she's been wrong, then hesitates. She decides against it and continues to walk away. This is a small gesture that just feels so real, and speaks volumes about her character, more than any amount of dialogue could.