Review of Another Year (2010) by Ray P — 30 Jan 2011

Mike Leigh is one of the greatest living filmmakers working today and has had a history of making films about average people. His best previous work has garnered him both critical acclaim as well as nominations and trophy wins for his actors (i.e. "Secrets and Lies", "Vera Drake", "Happy-Go-Lucky", to name a few).

"Another Year" may well be his finest achievement to date. As an actor, I respect the latitude he gives his cast as Leigh typically presents his actors with an outline of each scene and requires them to embody the action with their own improvisation and interpretations. The result is a highly realistic film experience where the end result plays like a documentary of real people rather than a scripted fictional account of them.

This film follows one year --- broken into 4 chapters each representing a different season - and revolves around a couple who are near retirement age aptly named Tom and Gerri. Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen are wonderful and very believable as the afore-mentioned couple and they are the anchors of this drama. The rest of the characters circle in and out of Tom and Geri's lives with much of the action taking place at their home. The best performance of the film and one of the most heartbreakingly real performances I 've seen in years is courtesy of Lesley Manville. She plays Mary, Gerri's co-worker/friend, who is battling mid-life crisis, loneliness and depression but plays it off with a cheery and overly needy facade. It is only in the final chapter of the film that the facade falls down and you see the real woman beneath.

The last shot of the movie, a pan that follows all of the characters as they are sitting down to dinner in Tom & Gerri's kitchen, ends with a long and silent look at Mary's face --- stripped down to the surface and achingly real. A fantastic film that was sorely overlooked on this years' Oscar bill!