Another Bore
A film of brilliant performances let down by an indifferent and unadventurous script: It lets us know the behaviors of those who choose to live their lives in the interstices of others, but not the whys and the wherefores. It is, therefore, very difficult to feel compassion for people who choose to be as lonely as many of the characters here choose to be. Their concept of personal benefit is hard to ascertain since they believe that the world owes them the living that it clearly does not.
The real problem here is that director Mike Leigh has never really moved on from Bleak Moments - both as an artist and as a man – content merely to confront his audience with his glass-half-empty outlook on life that matches his characters, but never transcends them. Western cultural anomie, ennui & alienation is a fascinating theme but needs exploring in terms of a) why it is endemic; and, b) what can be done about it. Otherwise, the advice given to the main character at the movie's end (to speak to a counselor) becomes empty at best – like any movie based on such advice.
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