Life Is Sweet

A perfect blend of comedy and poignant drama, 1990's Life Is Sweet was British director Mike Leigh's breakout international hit, showcasing the filmmaker's singular skill at orchestrating ensemble casts using a mostly improvised screenplay. Set just north of London, Life Is Sweet introduces us to a “typical” working-class family. Mum Wendy (Alison Steadman) is a cheerful and pragmatic store clerk who also teaches yoga, and her chef husband, Andy (Jim Broadbent), is similarly upbeat, despite an inability to follow through on just about anything, especially the dilapidated lunch wagon he just bought with friend Patsy (Stephen Rea). The couple's adult twins couldn't be less alike: Natalie (Claire Skinner) is a bookish and generally genial plumber, while her perpetually unhappy sister, Nicola (Jane Horrocks), smokes too much, suffers from bulimia and low self-esteem, and indulges a chocolate fetish with her occasional boyfriend (David Thewlis). Each of these individuals (and a wannabe restaurateur, hilariously played by Timothy Spall) is beautifully developed, especially as Leigh skews the comedy toward drama with deft subtlety (the climactic scene between Steadman and Horrocks is one of the great acting highlights in the history of British cinema). Ultimately, this is a bittersweet film about a group of unique yet all-too-average characters yearning to find their place in the simple rhythms of ordinary life. Bowing on DVD and Blu-ray, extras include audio commentary by Leigh; a 1991 radio interview with Leigh, all five of Leigh's previously unseen “Five-Minute Films” for a proposed TV series, and a booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Sterritt. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (J. Shannon)