 The
monotony and desperation of working class life has been the subject
of many films, and it is showcased again in All or Nothing.
Here, writer and director Mike Leigh (who also made
the acclaimed Secrets & Lies and Topsy-Turvy)
brings us the story of Penny (Lesley Manville), a
cashier at the local Safeway, her taxi-driver partner Phil (Timothy
Spall), and their two obese children Rachel (Alison
Garland) and Rory (James Corden). Their
joyless lives resemble those of fellow apartment complex tenants Maureen
(Ruth Sheen) and her teenage daughter, and the alcoholic
Carol (Marion Bailey) and her husband and daughter.
But when a medical emergency at the complex shakes things up, all
of their lives are changed. All
or Nothing is a poignant, though rather methodical, look at
working-class Londoners. The acting is quite good, especially by
Manville and Sheen, and the film is very believable in its portrayal
of the highs and lows of family relationships and friendships. However,
it takes a rather long time to get to the heart of the story, and
some may have lost interest by the time it gets there. Overall,
rather than being an all or nothing proposition, the quality of
this film ranks somewhere in the middle.
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