All or Nothing

Released 2002
Stars Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Alison Garland, James Corden Maureen: Ruth Sheen, Helen Coker
Directed by Mike Leigh

All or Nothing takes place on a London working-class housing estate over a long weekend. Taxi-driver Phil is a gentle, philosophical guy; his wife, Penny, works on the checkout at a supermarket. Their daughter Rachel cleans in a home for elderly people, and their son Rory is unemployed and aggressive. The joy has gone out of Phil and Penny's life … but when an unexpected tragedy occurs, they're brought together to rediscover their love.

Summary from http://www.netflix.com

"Misery, despair, and agony on me." Anyone remember that song from the old tv show "Hee-Haw"? The people in this movie are caught in a cycle of poverty that doesn't leave much room for joy, but at least it's not *crushing* poverty. They have enough money for the basics, but not enough for the joys of life. The worst part for them is knowing it's a cycle. They all know they'll go to school until they get some menial job, and then raise nasty ungrateful kids who will go to school until they get menial jobs, etc. The hopelessness must be one of the most difficult aspects of poverty, and you can see how it has crushed Phil to the point that he's abandoned his wife in every way except his physical presence. You can see the hurt in her eyes when her deplorable slob of a son, Rory, swears and yells at her, but her husband does nothing. Eventually they have a family emergency which breaks their family's log jam. Such an event will always shake things up, and sometimes it can be for the better. Fortunately that's the case for this family. --Summary by Bill Alward, July 31, 2003