Life Is Sweet

Composite Score: 82.97

Starring: Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks, Stephen Rea, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, and Moya Brady

Director: Mike Leigh

Writer: Mike Leigh

Genres: Comedy, Drama

MPAA Rating: R for language and a scene of sensuality

Box Office: $1.52 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Life Is Sweet is Mike Leigh’s slice of life comedy drama about a working-class family living in a suburb north of London and the complexities of their family dynamics. The family drama featured at its heart is superbly acted by Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent as the parents of Claire Skinner and Jane Horrocks, who play the twins Natalie and Nicola. The film focuses on the concept of dreams and goals and how different people define and approach those things quite differently. The film’s moving performances tie the story together well and leave the audience satisfied by the time the credits roll.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                One of the daughters in the film is coping with an eating disorder, so it is worth noting that people with trauma related to that topic might want to be careful if they’re looking to turn this one on. It features quite graphically in some parts of the film, and though handled with tact and care, it remains a fairly explicit feature of the film. I should also note that the film doesn’t necessarily offer any clear answers or solutions to the eating disorder either, so this film definitely is not meant to be therapeutic for such people either if you had that idea.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                As a slice of life film, Life Is Sweet focuses far less on story and far more on dialogue and characters/performances. Mike Leigh, known consistently for his well-written dialogue, delivers yet again here with a script that is quick, witty, and engaging. He gives his characters lines that feel real enough to lend the film authenticity but contrived enough to keep the comic energy up even in moments that would otherwise feel fairly dark. He takes a film that features working-class characters struggling to find their place in the world and keeps it light for almost the entire time. Even though not everyone has all their problems solved by the film’s end, the audience is left with a feeling of potentially misplaced optimism, having seen relationships strengthened even as issues were left unresolved.

                As the vehicles for the film’s story, the actors in Life Is Sweet hold their own, each delivering a unique performance that endears the characters to the audience. Jim Broadbent’s Andy is every bit as optimistic and burned out as any lower-middle-class dad whose kids have moved back in after school. Claire Skinner’s Natalie hides a bit as the “good daughter” but showcases her character’s complexities in the moments that she is given on-screen. Jane Horrocks is an annoying revelation as Nicola: With one of the most frustrating accents I can remember witnessing in a film, she manages to become one of the most sympathetic characters in the whole film whom I couldn’t help worrying about by the end of it all. I don’t know if I’ve ever watched a film where I liked the character Timothy Spall played, but I’ve also never seen a Timothy Spall character that did not immediately steal the show, and he does it yet again here as the family’s odd friend Aubrey – delivering an uncomfortable performance as a failed restauranteur. In all of the cast, though, none shines quite so bright as Alison Steadman’s performance as Wendy. Her motherly humor combined with her investment in her family and her beautiful moment of confrontation with Nicola makes her stick out almost head and shoulders over the rest of this already stacked cast.

                A stacked cast holds together a well-crafted slice-of-life story from Mike Leigh in Life Is Sweet, delivering his dialogue delightfully in a way that is sure to leave viewers happy, earning a spot among the Greatest Film of All Time. Some of the film’s heavier subject matter can be triggering to some viewers, but the film’s overall positivity should be enough to keep most other viewers on the film’s good side. It is currently available to stream via the Criterion Collection, and I can’t recommend it enough.