1. mattscieszka

   10

   I feel as though there is a several thousand word review in me to discuss the new Mike Leigh film, Another Year, which was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, but I have to admit this is a film that, though I love for many reasons, I feel not many people I know will ever see it, and so I'm going to sum up my thoughts with a brief reflection. Mary (Leslie Manville) gives one of the absolute best performances I have seen in film, as an aging alcoholic woman who is alone and depressed and desperate but cannot see what she needs to do to change anything. She frequently visits with a co-worker Gerri (Ruth Sheen) who is happily married to Tom (Jim Broadbent) and they seem to tolerate her because they are basically good people living a healthy life together. This is a British film set in the London area with realistic people playing very realistic roles. The film is told through the 4 seasons and takes us through many emotions, but it is totally in the character of Mary that we lose ourselves as we contemplate her sadness, but as Mike Leigh does so well, we don't just see one side from the other characters around this central figure, we see the entire spectrum of good and bad. I would not suggest this film for many people I know, but I would recommend it to anyone who loves a great movie about real life.… Expand

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2. TVJerry

   5

   The latest from writer/director Michael Leigh revolves around a happily married couple and a few of their miserable friends (especially a wreck who's beautifully created by Leslie Manville). Nothing happens to them, it all happens around them: long scenes of conversation and subtle interaction. The performances are all nuanced and interesting, but this is a quiet, microscopic drama. Don't expect anything more.… Expand

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3. Renzomalo

   0

   Another Year is simply a dreadful movie, a cinematic train wreck. You know you shouldn't keep looking but for whatever reason you simply can't look away. It was a wast of time, money and acting talent and I can't believe that some nimrod actually funded it. A gaggle of meaningless characters find each other - no surprise there in that no one else would have much to do with them - and bore each other silly with incomprehensible blather about their aforementioned meaningless lives. There was some good acting though: Lesley Manville (Mary) emotes and emotes and emotes to the point where you want to shoot her and end her misery (and yours), misery that culminates in the "Winter" phase with her friend and National Health Service "counselor", Gerri (Ruth Sheen) quipping, "You need professional help." No, really!!! Say it isn't so. And this only took a year to verbalize! The NHS at its best. Miss Manville's "Mary," although good, is equaled by David Bradley's "Ronnie," the recently widowed brother whose grunts and groans and staring interminably into space is not to be missed, unless, of course, you've already given up, fallen asleep or gone to the loo without bothering to press "pause." On the positive side, Another Year did inspire me to open an account on Metacritic to warn other, unsuspecting victims to spend their time and money elsewhere, like the bowling alley or something. Seriously, it was a consummate waste of time. No plot, no conflict and no resolution: what's not to dislike?… Expand

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