Screened as part of NZIFF 2003

All or Nothing 2002

Directed by Mike Leigh

France / UK In English
128 minutes 35mm

Director, Screenplay

Producers

Simon Channing Williams
,
Alain Sarde

Photography

Dick Pope

Editor

Lesley Walker

Music

Andrew Dickson

With

Timothy Spall (Phil)
,
Lesley Manville (Penny)
,
Alison Garland (Rachel)
,
James Corden (Rory)
,
Ruth Sheen (Maureen)
,
Marion Bailey (Carol)
,
Paul Jesson (Ron)
,
Kathryn Hunter (Cecile)
,
Sally Hawkins (Samantha)
,
Helen Coker (Donna)
,
Daniel Mays (Jason)
,
Ben Crompton Dr (Craig)

Festivals

Cannes (In Competition), Edinburgh, Toronto, San Sebastian 2002

Elsewhere

Mike Leigh returns to Secrets and Lies terrain, investing family life in a South London housing estate with his signature blend of harsh reality, pungent humour and emotional resilience. In a career-defining role, Leigh regular Timothy Spall plays Phil, a London minicab driver more responsive to provocative passengers than to his severely disillusioned wife and their loutish, disturbingly overweight son. Leigh locates this unhappy family firmly within the context of workmates and neighbours, creating a welcome relief from their emotional blockage in the super-sane woman next door, Maureen, played by Ruth Sheen with a sardonic quip for every occasion – and a quiet flair for karaoke. The dramatic impetus is towards reconciliation; as the focus intensifies on a marriage in serious need of refreshment, Spall and actress Lesley Manville prove devastatingly effective. “A beautiful balancing act… truthful, perceptive and finally very .” — Geoff Andrew, Time Out 

“Vintage Leigh; blooming from the banal into a stuff-of-life fable that’s wise, witty and profound.” — Xan Brooks, The Guardian