By Kate Rodger
Secrets and Lies director Mike Leigh is back, with Another Year - a year in the life in fact, of a middleclass suburban English couple and the friends and family who orbit them.
Perennial Leigh collaborators and characters abound, with Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen at the centre of this story as Tom and Gerri, still in love after years of marriage, and whose happiness draws in those friends less fortunate.
Lesley Manville is a crippling heartbreaking triumph as Mary, a workmate of Gerri’s, whose desperate, alcohol-fused neediness is so real and so palpable you'll feel like she's just moved in next door.
Another Year is yet another masterful slice of life from Mike Leigh, serving his loyal fans well and well deserving of new ones. As with most of his films, this isn’t always an easy watch, but that only adds to the impact, and you won’t see better performances this year.
Four and half stars.
3 News
Another Year
:: Director: Mike Leigh
:: Starring: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen
:: Running Time: 129 mins
:: Rating: M - contains offensive language
:: Release Date: April 21, 2011
:: Trailer: Watch here
