VividSimon Simply Perfect

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

missraze I really like this guy; he did Secrets and Lies, and Happy-Go-Lucky, and I'm about to check out "Life is Sweet." I'm on some nostalgic, vintage Britain trip. I first saw All or Nothing about 10 years ago, on cable, and came in halfway and, being an American, the times it was put on cable were about once every several years. And at the time I was in high school and didn't have my own personal computer or money to order a DVD so I just vaguely sulked missing this film. Now that I have my own means to hunt the film out I'm so glad I have! And with my trusty dusty internet I am able to see all these VHS gems I've stored over the years, like the first movies I mentioned, have the same director. So I feel I'm doing something right as far as taste, or Mike Leigh is. The film is about a connection of lives on a council estate/public housing complex. There's a couple with two kids that are less than models and not exactly skilled office workers, and neither are the parents. It's an overweight family of care home workers, supermarket workers, cabbies, and a bone-idle brat. You get the mother who has late-night timeouts to herself to grieve her existence, and the dad who digs for loose change under the cushions his couch potato son lounges on, a scene that silently, ironically shows how the cycle of poverty will continue within this family. Then there's the mother's friend, who is a drunk and her daughter is the council slag basically, who tries to steal the boyfriend of her mother's other friend's daughter. The daughter is Donna, a right stroppy girl who values her looks and nothing else of herself, which gives her a bad attitude that ruins her looks; the entire film she has a rough sneer on her face, or tear-stained makeup. The film shows the stereotypes without inducing eyerolls. Just like in Secrets and Lies (an AMAZING FILM that gives you laughs and tears), the soundtrack isn't cliché rap music to add to the mood of the urban setting, but it's somber violin music and no offputting lyrics. I don't know if the violin music is done to be ironic or if it's a way to ease and appease the upper-class or older viewers who probably need a break from all the aggression. But it's a contrast and kind of makes me giggle because it's music you'd hear in a Jane Eyre miniseries, and not in a film about rough "chavs" (I hate that word, but it's an inevitable and long standing part of English society, so.) Speaking of, then there's stuff like Daniel Mays who plays Donna's boyfriend, and his strong accent, and his entire script along with the other characters' is a rather intriguing glossary of chav slang like "doing my head in" and "bollocks" and "having a laugh"...it's endless yet not nauseating or annoying or forced. I'm not quite sure how much was ad-libbed/"mumblecore," or Mike Leigh's hand but I raised an impressed eyebrow at how Mike Leigh was able to do that, use that underclass attitude to add to the realism while making it funny without mocking them or ruining the film. So the social context of British historical and current events that create the too real contemporary "chav" culture is strong here, and Mike Leigh nicely portrays this bleak society somehow in many of his films.My only bone to pick is the actress who plays Donna. At first it seems like she is overdoing it but I know young women really do act this way and with their mums. Plus, she is pregnant, which makes women moody sometimes, and she has every reason to be angry if you look at the very utilised backdrop of impoverished tower blocks and screaming neighbours and a horrible boyfriend. It seems the actress has to really put on this hard act and bad attitude and her incessant "Shuh-ups!" to emphasise that her character is a chav and not a "regular" London girl. It's this attitude and accent and lingo that sets "chavs" apart from others, though they are a huge part of the demographic makeup in England and other parts of Britain. So I got over it. It is a bit crazy though that when she's battered and falls pregnant does this bring her and her single mother together. I think this lifestyle of unintelligent people was shown very intelligently. On the cable that I have it was ranked with 2 1/2 out of 4 stars. I know critics can be fickle but I was wondering why it didn't at least get 3. So perhaps the harsh setting and reality of white Brits (who are classically and mostly shown in film and art and music to be posh, upper-classed, intellectual) being shown here as the complete opposite was a hard pill to swallow and probably written off as hammed up rubbish, but no. I think it's got a skeleton of reality here under the embellishing skin of dramatic fights, and relationships, like Sally Hawkins flirting with a mentally challenged kid and how she chomps on gum the entire time and keeps flaring her nostrils. I'm not British so I don't know how many "rude girls" strut around provocatively on the estate all day, but regardless I don't think she played the role well to be honest. Someone *like* Lauren Socha perhaps, who can play chav rather naturally and endearingly.Anyway there's nothing here that I find unrealistic as far as the households and characters within and around, nor the situations they're in, nor how most of the actors/actresses played them, albeit some over the top, and I really appreciate this tour through the other half of British real life. Fine writer/director.

Red_Identity It's kinda shocking to see the reviews and the reception this got. Good reviews and reception, yes, but in comparison to Mike Leigh's other 2000s work, it's sort of surprising. Not sure why though, although I guess there's less of a clear narrative to go from here, certainly unlike something like Vera Drake. The performances from mike Leigh's regular, recurring cast are great. It's nice to see timothy Spall and Lesley Manville doing some strong work together. The film is well-done in every respect as well, never really calling attention to itself in any way and allowing the events of the plot, of these characters' lives, to transpire organically and naturally. This is definitely recommended to his fans

will9342 Although I've seen many Ken Loach films, I'd never seen this film. Never even heard of it until I discovered the film on a French television channel. I have to admit to being a Timothy Spall fan because of his roles in many films and television series, "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" coming notably to mind. His role in this film as "Phil" did nothing to dent my admiration for his acting. Loach, as usual, shows how strong people can be in desperate situations. While he is deeply in search of the lost love of his wife, he is suddenly faced with a, potential, family tragedy. This is were the most poignant, and emotional, scenes of the film come to screen. I don't think that the cost of the scenes from 1h44 et 1h55 (11 short minutes) cost 10 seconds of filming for films such as "Iron man", "The Avengers", "Transformers" or any other big budget film but those 11 minutes poured more emotion through me than any of those films. Thank heavens that there are directors like Loach that can bring us back to real life.

paul2001sw-1 Mike Leigh's 'All or Nothing' features some of the trademarks of his best known films: naturalistic acting, moments of extreme poignancy, and a sensitive portrait of those for whom modern life is not easy. But it lacks the more comic characters who have often adorned his work. In their absence, the result is one of his most understated, and downbeat, movies since his debut feature 'Bleak Moments'; and in spite of little jewels in the script, at times its almost painfully hard to watch. Additionally, the portrait of a very white British underclass, and the empty streets of the estate where they live, doesn't quite seem in tune with life as it is actually lived today. To my mind (and despite the Oscar nominations won by 'Secrets and Lies) Leigh's best contemporary portraits remains his early 1990s trio: the bittersweet 'High Hopes', the hilarious 'Life is Sweet' and the coruscating 'Naked'; but as he followed this film with the brilliant period drama 'Vera Drake', maybe he simply needed a change of scene to refocus his vision. Still, this film is definitely a minor entry in his canon.