Another Year (2010)

You won't be disappointed!

Waste of time

Good concept, poorly executed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Mike Leigh's 'Another Year' at first feels like a very smug movie: a likable, affluent couple pass their time together over the course of a year, often in the company of variously inadequate friends who alternately entertain them and require their support. Eventually, a drama emerges from the growing stresses of one of these relationships; but it's a very well-signalled development. What makes the film a success is the sheer skill with which director and cast pull off the individual encounters: Leigh famously prepares for writing the final drafts of his scripts through improvisation, and this film in particular feels like an assembly of scenes emerging from a workshop, but there's no denying they're beautifully done, drawing you into the misery of the characters even where you knew exactly what was coming. And gradually, the film's perspective shifts from that of the insiders (whose compassion is increasing revealed as finite) to that of the outsiders. The abrupt ending offers no promises of happiness to those who didn't have it already when the movie began.

Really well made with some tremendous performances; I loved the down-to- earth tone of the piece. Mike Leigh does make some great dramas and he really gets great performances from his actors. In this one I loved both Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen, but the star of the show was definitely Lesley Manville. She had to go through the whole gamut of emotions and did it quite brilliantly (IMO). It's not a film that will be to everyone's taste; the explosion count is zero; car chases get a similar score and as for deaths, well, there is one, but we only find out about that one when they have to go to the funeral. But I digress; I found it a really engaging film with some real characters that are both believable and well rounded. It's nice to see British people portrayed as they are for a change, instead of some stereotypical 'vision' of what everyone thinks they are. On the down side, I did find it went on just a tad too long at the end, but I'm not going to hold that against it. It's well worth a look if you get the chance.SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDEDMy score: 8.2/10.You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

There are very few filmmakers like Mike Leigh these days. It is all about pretty people pretending to be interesting, and failing at it miserably. Mike Leigh hires magnificent character actors that Great Britain seems to have an abundance of, and simply tells a story. Ordinary people with ordinary lives, loving and hating, laughing and aching,living and dying." Another Year" is just a big slice of life. Four seasons of lives of several people. All very simple, at first sight, but rich and fragrant and truly complex, as meaningful things usually are. And actors...Absolutely perfect every single one of them. But Lesley Manville stands out in a role of needy drunken friend Mary. If there was ever an actor deserving an Oscar-this women is. Precise, irritating and heartbreaking. A masterpiece...

Another Year – CATCH IT (A-) Another Year is a look inside the sixty years old married happy couple and their friends and family for next four seasons. This is not a movie but a couple's life which rolls in front of you and you just sit back and watch how they spend their lives through different seasons. Another Year is unlike any other thing I have ever seen. There are many few movies around which stand alone on strong characterization. The characterization of especially the married couple Tom, Gerri and Gerri's friend Mary is so powerful that in few seconds you forget that it's a movie as it seems like a camera on someone life. The performance by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen are simply awesome and seems so effortless. But it's Lesley Manville as Mary who steels the frame as the lonesome, drunken woman trying desperate to find some peace in her life. Her performances is one of the strongest performances I have ever seen, it just pierce through your heart. There is this melancholy pain in her eyes and voice that just indescribable. I really don't know how Academy Awards ignore her performance. She truly deserved an Oscar for her remarkable performance. Oliver Maltman as Joe and Karina Fernandez as Katie are effortlessly good. The other supporting cast also did a fine job. In the end, I do like the whole movie but except Mary, Joe and Katie other character's story isn't that exciting and I also feel that we don't see a happy ending for Mary but still it's a powerful movie which leaves a strong impression. Highly Recommended!