narrator56
This is an early effort by Mike Leigh, a writer/director I really like. It seems to have been part of a BBC TV film series.
I cant say enough about the acting up and down the cast list. Brenda Blethyn and Lesley Manviile did the same superlative job I would come to expect from them in later roles. And I guess Phil Davis must have done a great job also, for he made me dislike his character intensely, and later I realized I have enjoyed a lot of his later work.
Like with most of Mike Leighs family dramas, the story builds up to an emotional crisis point, and then settles back into a slightly improved post-crisis place. I didnt enjoy this as much as his other films. There seemed to be less depth to it. There is a lot of small talk hare ...