Another Year

Name: Another Year
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: December 29, 2010
Duration: 129 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen

2010

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 66 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 66 Ratings

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Another Year

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 29, 2010 | PG-13

Starring: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen

Summary: In the Spring, happily married Gerri, a medical counselor, and Tom, a geologist, tend their allotment. They entertain Gerri's lonely work colleague Mary, and their community lawyer son Joe, throughout the year. [Sony Classics]

Director: Mike Leigh

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 129 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Liam Lacey

Jan 14, 2011

Extracting big drama out of small events is Mike Leigh's forte, and with his latest little masterpiece, Another Year, the English director pushes himself to the extreme. Read full review

100

Kyle Smith

Dec 29, 2010

Getting a small cohort of humanity dead right is an impressive artistic achievement, but Mike Leigh's beautifully modulated English drama Another Year advances even farther. Read full review

Bill Goodykoontz

Jan 14, 2011

The acting is uniformly terrific, just a marvel to watch. Read full review

Shawn Levy

Jan 27, 2011

Very good Leigh -- maybe even, given Manville's heroic work, great Leigh. Read full review

A.O. Scott

Dec 29, 2010

Splendidly rich and wise. Read full review

Roger Moore

Jan 26, 2011

In Mary, Leigh has found the polar opposite of Sally Hawkin's giggle-through-the-pain heroine of "Happy-Go-Lucky." Read full review

Karina Longworth

Dec 28, 2010

I haven't seen a film this year that so openly invited me to revile each and every one of its characters-and I reviewed "The Human Centipede." Read full review

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User Reviews

mattscieszka

May 17, 2011

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 soI 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

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

EvanS

Jan 24, 2011

The night of seeing this movie I was kept for hours by the screech of wheels outside my window where an action/chase flick was being filmed. It's appropriate considering Another Year was the antithesis of the kind of loud crap being made today and served up every Friday. I haven't stoppedThe night of seeing this movie I was kept for hours by the screech of wheels outside my window where an action/chase flick was being filmed. It's appropriate considering Another Year was the antithesis of the kind of loud crap being made today and served up every Friday. I haven't stopped thinking about the movie since I walked out of the theater. Ignore the naysayers and go.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

amheretojudge

Aug 17, 2018

so realistic that it seems fictional..

Another Year 4 And A Half Out Of 5 Another Year is a character driven drama about an unstable relationship among family and friends that lethally cuts down the innocence. Tugging down the soul from each character vigorously, Leigh's narration hasso realistic that it seems fictional..

Another Year

4 And A Half Out Of 5

Another Year is a character driven drama about an unstable relationship among family and friends that lethally cuts down the innocence. Tugging down the soul from each character vigorously, Leigh's narration has never been of such dark themes that makes the viewers cringe on the seat. It is so realistic, that it seems fictional, it is so husky that it seems all crispy and it is so bizarrely ingenious that it seems natural. Leigh's world in here grabs the audience and sinks deeper along with them to a point where the concept it meddles with is of such higher ideal that may require less ordinary mind to shuffle out of it. The pragmatic dinner table conversations are just delight on top of its layered thought provoking policy that one should hold on to. The writing is so strong and mature that it doesn't rely upon necessary technical aspects like background score and sound department. The camera work is amazing with beautiful shots, decent cinematography and breezy environment that makes it immensely pleasing to encounter. It also emits the typical " theatre" vibes where the sequences are shot in a single take with amazing performance. Leigh; the writer-director, has created a masterpiece which is thoroughly busy in its lane with sharp, adaptive and gripping screenplay. As mentioned earlier, the performance objective is majestically scored especially by Manville who is a revelation in here along with an amazing supporting cast like Broadbent and Sheen. Gut wrenching honesty, grounded writing and three dimensional characters are the high points of the feature that helps it make it on top of the game. Another Year is a rare cinematic art whose definition of celebrating a glorifying victory is to merely accept it and get on with it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

j30

Sep 19, 2011

Laugh, Love, and Live. I always thought that those signs in people's houses were pretty corny, but I think it could describe Tom and Gerri. The movie captures nearly everything about life (birth, death, love, regret, the list goes on) in a passing of a year. The movie made me reflect on myLaugh, Love, and Live. I always thought that those signs in people's houses were pretty corny, but I think it could describe Tom and Gerri. The movie captures nearly everything about life (birth, death, love, regret, the list goes on) in a passing of a year. The movie made me reflect on my life and the lives of others around me; and that's why the movie is universal because I think just about anyone could relate to it's characters.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MarkAngel

Mar 2, 2013

Wonderful, small and sad but enjoyable. These ordinary people may even provide the viewer with self-reflective thoughts.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Jan 31, 2011

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 subtleThe 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

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Renzomalo

Aug 23, 2011

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 meaninglessAnother 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

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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