Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

mike dewey I've just read some of the other comments on this film and am now engaged in a bout with writers block because in no way will I begin to shed a better light on our subject film than the engaging analyses already posted on this site. This tale about a lower working class South London family in a nondescript housing project is one that simultaneously depresses and uplifts the spirit. You'll find no plastic yuppie rich boy/girl "wannabee" hot shots roaming about the screen, spewing ostentatious insipidities in this film. These are people on the low end of the economic ladder who make no pretensions or excuses for their situation in life.Mike Leigh and company totally hit the proverbial nail on the head in this one. Suffice it to say that Tim Spall and Lesley Manville each rendered riveting performances in their portrayals of the unmarried couple with two grown kids. The realistic "mise en scene" and the accompanying dialog/story line were grittily absorbing works of art, especially the long scene toward the film's conclusion. I may as well bestow kudos to the rest of the cast as well because their contributions, both individually and collectively, greatly augmented the story line as a whole. This modern gem, in its ambient unpretentiousness, so capably underscores the unmitigated power of love, acceptance, and triumph of the spirit no matter how grim the situation.

Graham Greene Mike Leigh can always be counted on when it comes to presenting truthful, emotional and compelling British cinema. Over the past twenty years, he has progressed beyond the limitations of cosy teatime telly to present us with something that resonates with a sense of reality far more potent than that of our previous king of kitchen-sink despair, Ken Loach. When at his best, Leigh is a creator of honest and heartfelt, slice-of-life pictures that move effortlessly from scenes of warm humour, to moments of crippling despair; whilst always offering us a collection of characters that are viewed through the eyes of a central protagonist who, during the course of the film, undergoes a series of life shattering episodes that will eventually change their lives for better or worse. Given these characteristics, All or Nothing can be seen as a continuation - or even amalgamation - of his earlier films, Life is Sweet, Naked and Secrets and Lies.However, what with it's collective of quiet souls racked with melancholy and unable to express any kind of heartfelt emotion (until those all important final scenes) it could be argued that All or Nothing is closest in tone to Leigh's very first film, the aptly titled Bleak Moments (only with the borrowed council flat locations of his other classic film, Meantime). The characters here are as affecting as I've ever seen in any other film (Leigh's included), whether it be the central performance of Timothy Spall as the emotionally pensive, though deeply philosophical London cab-driver Phil, or even the supporting players Alison Garland, Ruth Sheen, Paul Jesson, Sally Coker, et al, who watch from the balconies as a sort of low-rent Greek chorus, whilst bringing to the film a look of tired dejection that could only have come from a life built on years of failure, heartache and disappointment. It's certainly not a feel good film, with many of the ensemble ending up worse off than when the film began, with the themes and notions of loneliness, love, desire, obsession and escape all weighing upon the characters like rain clouds that are rarely broken by the slightest sense of hope.Some could argue that Leigh leaves a lot of questions unanswered with this film, with the improvised nature of his work meaning that many characters seem to be building to something (as they probably were, sub-textually) that we never get to see. However, as I see it, this merely serves to make the film more interesting and believable, with many characters ending the film with that real sense of daily uncertainty; as though Leigh is trying to suggest that although this chapter is finished, tomorrow brings more of the same, and the problems yet to be dealt with now will simply rear their ugly heads at a later date. If anything, this makes the film even more downbeat, with ideas and characters lingering long after the credits have rolled, which if nothing else, proves just how powerful and affecting this film really is. As I noted before, this is a greatly compelling piece of work, regardless of it's bleak misanthropy. Leigh's control over the idea of an improvised story is at it's strongest with this film, as he ably moves away from the limited scope of Life is Sweet or the meandering despair of Naked to present us with a picture that is gauged somewhere in between the two.The narrative arc is traditional in structure, with the story building gradually to a grandstand emotional confessional from Phil to his long-suffering wife Penny (played by Leslie Manville, in what must be her best performance to date) as decades of hidden feelings, thoughts and emotions come pouring out like his embarrassed tears. For me, it's the most important scene in the film, coming at just the right moment when we - the audience - much like Penny, aren't sure how much more of Phil's reserved detachment we can take. Spall is a real revelation hear, creating a sensitive character who often remains silent (save for the odd theoretical quip), though is able to convey more emotion in a single movement, walk or gesture than most actors could manage with a ten-page monologue. The scene in which he drives out to the beach to contemplate the direction of his life, while back home all emotional hell is breaking loose, is played completely without words and yet, we're never unsure of what it is that he is thinking.With each picture, Leigh's grasp of film-making is become more and more assured, as his characters become all the more captivating. Although it is true that All or Nothing doesn't really offer us any rational explanations or easy answers, it does at least present us with a blisteringly accurate and sometimes too painful to look at a slice of life, complemented by the meticulous film-making of Leigh and his technicians, and made all the more rewarding due to the peerless and always believable performances of Timothy Spall and Leslie Manville.

agile53 I don't know who Mike Leigh is, nor do I care. This movie SUCKS! unless you're a British "council estate" resident, whatever that is. I want to see a movie to "escape from reality" so to speak, rather than be assaulted by depressive, pseudo-normal residents of this English slum. If this is "entertainment" (which is why I see movies), I choose not to be entertained. God, what an ordeal to sit through this entire movie!Hey, Leigh, get in the documentary business, if this is the kind of crap you're trying to pawn off on the viewing public as "entertainment."I was not entertained in the least. I only felt deep sorrow for your characters, and did not have the feeling I should have when leaving the theater in which I first saw it. I want to leave feeling "good," or at least "happy," so if your intent was to leave me miserable, you succeeded.Perhaps you accomplished what you meant to achieve when I left the movie house, but I guarantee you I will never watch another movie with your name associated with it, for I don't wish to spend my diversionary time experiencing the emotions I did after watching this boring piece of crap.I assume your are of the English (meaning England) descent, as I doubt Americans will enjoy this depressive piece of English tripe. Do us all a favor, and remain on your side of "the pond." Thanks.

BJJManchester Another one of director Mike Leigh's languorous,semi-improvised essays of working-class life,ALL OR NOTHING seems a somewhat deliberate attempt to be as relentlessly miserable and pessimistic as possible;set on a dismal,down-trodden South London council estate,with plain,overweight,ugly,dissipated,resigned-to-their-fate tenants and their families,with a maudlin violin-laden musical theme for good measure.It was surely the case that Leigh knew even before the cameras rolled that such a scenario would be the easiest way to keep the majority of cinema seats vacant,as other similarly themed UK-based social dramas.Aside from the profanities abound,it does have the feel of a TV production,where it looks and plays better on the small screen.The film's saving grace is that at least it has relatively sympathetic characters at it's centre.Timothy Spall has and never will be Cary Grant,but he is nonetheless a very fine actor,and still manages to add some depth to his taxi driver role with an eternally hangdog expression.But Lesley Manville,playing Spall's wife,gives the film's best performance,with a painfully honest love scene involving them both towards the end easily the film's highlight.Aside from the relentless gloom,the film's main problems are it's sheer mundaneness.There may be a quietly effective,observational realism about them,but relatively little happens and some sequences are far too over-stretched and become very tedious.Leigh's habit of caricatures comes to the fore with a voluble Frenchwoman and drunken housewife,and the film's pacing is deadening,moving like a tortoise on Valium.But along with Spall and Manville,the supporting performances are solid all round,with the familiar comic actor Sam Kelly coming off best as a downcast,late middle-aged cleaner who makes half-hearted,hopeless attempts in trying to date the teen-aged daughter of Spall and Manville (Alison Garland),who suffers from shyness and obesity.Her foul-mouthed,lazy,even more obese brother (James Corden)suffers a heart attack while playing football,which in fact brings the family closer together and helps the film end on a mildly optimistic note.But this is untypical in light of what went previously;ALL OR NOTHING is not unwatchable,and Mike Leigh is a talented filmmaker,but less footage,better pacing and more humour would've made a better film.But Leigh and the actors would probably not have liked that,it would've made them more happier!RATING:6 out of 10.