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Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Mike Leigh's situation comedy about a lower middle-class family in the London suburbs is a slice-of-life chronicle that subtly reveals the pain and rage underneath the surface of day-to-day conventions. The youngish parents, Wendy (Alison Steadman) and Andy (Jim Broadbent) live with their 20-something twin daughters, Nicola (Jane Horrocks) and Natalie (Claire Skinner). Natalie, a plumber's assistant, is clean-cut and forever looks on the bright side of life. Nicola, who is unemployed, has nothing but contempt for conventionality. As the daughters deal with the obsessively sunny Wendy and the lackadaisical Andy, and confront a succession of ne'er-do-well friends and neighbors, a darker picture is painted of this normal family -- particularly Nicola, who is convinced she is fat and ugly (despite her emaciated appearance), with Natalie being a constant rebuke to her. ...Life Is Sweet (AUS)
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Watch out for an early appearence by Jane Horrocks as anorexic/agoraphobic Natalie in a family as dysfunctional as any you've ever known. Mike Leigh directs this brilliant sprawling drama with understated aplomb,following four people united by a surname and divided by their differing personalities in a hot London summer. Meet their friends and lovers, take a peek at their jobs and get a taste of working class life. The only change is that instead of staid TV stereotypes you will see people as they really are --- funnier and sadder --- and that perhaps is what we can learn from the film. There is no story as such .... just a chaotic effort by Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent to survive one week to the next and understand their twin daughters as they surface into the adult world. Everything is here; angst, poverty, mental illness and Timothy Spall as Aubrey, New Britains most unsuccesful entrepreneur who opens a restaurant, with no regrets except that no one turns up on it"s opening night! It's hankie time though when Mother and unhappy daughter finally face a few home truths.... You'll laugh, cry and think about the issues cleverly raised by this picture.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By Sd May
Format:DVD
'Life is sweet/bittersweet...' Maria Mckee wrote the great title song of her brilliant solo album after seeing this film, and this is a film full of sweet moments that will also leave you feeling hollowed out by the end. Alison Steadman is the irrepressibly optimistic matriach of an ordinary lower middle class family. Husband Jim Broadbent has a million plans and schemes to escape his job, none of which will come to fruition. Jane Horrocks is the unhappy bulemic daughter whose nervy misery is contrasted with the sensible thoughtfulness of her twin played by Clare Skinner. David Thewlis is her the cruel boyfriend who grows fed up of licking chocolate spread from Jane Horrocks breasts (is he mad?) Timothy Spall turns in a marvellous performance as the deluded, predatory and pathetic would-be restauranter and the film works as a beautifully constructed ensemble piece about the necessity of dreams and the power of family bonds. I often cry at films - I cried at three separate moments in thsi one. Required viewing for all aspiring British film-makers. And, yes that means you Richard Curtis - you could learn a thing or three from this...
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Tim Kidner
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
Life is Sweet was the first Leigh film I saw, about 6 years ago. I recently settled to reacquaint myself with Leigh's regular team of character actors. I've seen all his films subsequently and have a feel of his breadth of work, from tragicomedy to drama.
As such, I found the characters' mannerisms and foibles to be grating and really quite irritating, as if they'd been overacted, or misjudged. At least, at first.
Then, as with any family that open their front door to you and until you see and hear how they click and survive as a family unit, you really do wonder what you've let yourself in for.
So, having 'moved in', within 15 minutes I was warming to them. Ten more and I felt I knew them and was totally immersed in their humour and lives. I'm still surprised as to how political and social statements from the late '80's (as well as a trip down memory lane; rusty Ford Escorts and shell suits) manifest themselves through the cast. Bit like the kitchen sink dramas of the '60's but without the grainy black & white, the grime and grouchy men hitting womenfolk. Leigh's canvas is much wider and behind everyday doors in everyday streets lie the often dismissed emotional and confused pains of modern life. Ordinary people whose problems seem to be teetering on the edge and to them, unique.
The acting in those more poignant scenes is, as I sometimes describe, natural, as is. As you'd expect a real person to do.
With some broad humour, wit and a brisk pace this is still a sparkling snapshot of British semi-suburbia twenty years ago. Nothing too shocking or gratuitous. Not the red-hot, pure grit of hard unemployment of Shane Meadows but the sort of folk we know about, or of, who work alongside us, holding the country together. Somehow.
As such, I found the characters' mannerisms and foibles to be grating and really quite irritating, as if they'd been overacted, or misjudged. At least, at first.
Then, as with any family that open their front door to you and until you see and hear how they click and survive as a family unit, you really do wonder what you've let yourself in for.
So, having 'moved in', within 15 minutes I was warming to them. Ten more and I felt I knew them and was totally immersed in their humour and lives. I'm still surprised as to how political and social statements from the late '80's (as well as a trip down memory lane; rusty Ford Escorts and shell suits) manifest themselves through the cast. Bit like the kitchen sink dramas of the '60's but without the grainy black & white, the grime and grouchy men hitting womenfolk. Leigh's canvas is much wider and behind everyday doors in everyday streets lie the often dismissed emotional and confused pains of modern life. Ordinary people whose problems seem to be teetering on the edge and to them, unique.
The acting in those more poignant scenes is, as I sometimes describe, natural, as is. As you'd expect a real person to do.
With some broad humour, wit and a brisk pace this is still a sparkling snapshot of British semi-suburbia twenty years ago. Nothing too shocking or gratuitous. Not the red-hot, pure grit of hard unemployment of Shane Meadows but the sort of folk we know about, or of, who work alongside us, holding the country together. Somehow.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
DIDNT GET ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS ONE
What a cast... what a waste, I have watched films from this director before and I know they can be a little off the wall, but this really was much ado about nothing. Read more
Published 11 days ago by avid ravid
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dreadful Quality Blu-Ray
I bought this on Blu-Ray having bought the DVD and being a big fan of Mike Leigh's work. The DVD edition isn't desperately good quality and that's sort of forgiveable for niche... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lozzy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet sweet sweet!
Its lovely i loved the family they were so dis functional but to me completely normal and wonder to see on screen it reminds you of the things that are important in life i. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Neil Horn
5.0 out of 5 stars
life is sweet a true life events
Love this film was very good movie watch this on tv very long time ago was waiting for this to come to to dvd was so glad love this film was true life you can relate to I love the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ms. J. L. Turver
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent and funny movie
An intelligent and funny movie about a "strange" family who like each other but life is not always easy for them and it is not easy for them to live with each other. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Petra
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stellar cast
Can't go wrong with Alison Steadmand and Timothy Spall- such great actotrs- very entertaining and bought at a bargain price!
Published 4 months ago by Uma
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant film
Excellent, thought-provoking film. Sad and funny at the same time. Great characters and acting. Definitely worth a watch. Mike Leigh at his best.
Published 10 months ago by Helen P. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life is Sweet
Life as it was in the raw. Ever hopeful of the quick buck but never quite getting there. Underlying issues that were never really talked about. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dainty
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great film with faithful transfer on Blu-ray
Was a little apprehensive when I saw the low resolution logos and clips from other Film 4 titles preceding the main menu, but most relieved to see that this has an authentic... Read more
Published 11 months ago by K. Oppegaard
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life Is Bittersweet
Mike Leigh's 1990 film Life Is Sweet is a brilliantly funny take on the life of an apparently dysfunctional working-class North London family, and provides a typically honest... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Keith M
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