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Movedout 01/01/2012 4:38:00 AM
I agree with every point of this review and that's the reason why I think this movie is a gem. The movie is honest above everything else.
The shades of perspectives crafted by Leigh is so nuanced -- I don't think we're meant to see it as married=good, single=bad -- Tom and Gerri are meant to be insufferable. Haven't we met people like that before? They mean well most of the time and are helpful to a certain extent but they aren't there to solve anyone's problems.
Gerri mentioned to Mary that her family comes first every single time (not in so many words). Mary knows this and she knows being around them isn't good for here -- telling us how being around some people can be poison no matter how much it might seem like the antidote.
There are no villains in this film, just people with good lives and bad lives and how they interact with each other.
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11/19/2011 6:25:00 PM
I loved the film, as I do most Mike Leigh films. So clearly I disagree with the review on the whole. However, I do give the critic credit for making me rethink the central couple of Tom and Gerri slightly. I think she may be right that there's a shift at the end toward thinking they are insensitive in bragging about their trip around the world they "didn't have to do cheaply" when not only Mary but Tom's brother are unable to relate. What that also makes me ponder though is how their son's girlfriend comes from a working class family but is college educated; this also seems to be true of Tom as well, based on his brother (hard to say what the case is for Gerri).
Bottom line is that I don't think any of the characters are meant to be reviled; neither are any of them meant to be canonised. They are interesting, realistic people, created in part by the actors. This is also a mistake the critic makes in ascribing a single point of view to Leigh. This may be true for many "auteur" filmmakers; but with Leigh, he derives the screenplay from a collaborative process where the actors build the characters over several months, including aspects of their lives that are never explicitly revealed on screen (I wish I could read a dossier with all that info). By the same token, the actors are not privy to any information about other characters that their characters would not know. So any "fault" for the likeability or lack thereof of the film's characters should be laid at the feet of not only Leigh but his cast as well.
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09/13/2011 1:24:00 PM
One of the best, most thoughtful films of the last five years. The "critic" above must have been having a bad day.
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07/10/2011 11:07:00 AM
I totally concur with your review. Mike Leigh's usual subtlety, wit and perspicacity were almost entirely absent.
The opening scenes were promising, but the film stalled after the first evening with Tom, Gerri and Mary. The rest of the film appeared to be merely about a pair of old smug marrieds condescending to their friends.
I appreciated the cutting honesty of the portrayal of friends Ken and Mary (though too much time spent on her fixation on the son, to the point of seeming designed to humiliate her to excess). I would have appreciated an equally cutting and honest appraisal of Gerri and Tom -- why they seem to choose as friends only people they can feel superior to; why they can't hide their disdain when they're with them; why they never question themselves. It's this imbalance that makes the film weak, dull and dishonest. The film sides with Tom and Gerri's view of their friends, and never examines the couple themselves. Their dialogue of lame, snide asides also raised my hackles.
Tonally, in addition to the definitely smug and passive-aggressive central couple, I also hated the tone of Gerri's doctor friend and their son's girlfriend -- clearly meant to seem, respectively, direct and endearing, and coming off instead as patronizing and fake (and a pale retread of Poppy from Happy Go Lucky).
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Arampus 06/28/2011 8:22:00 PM
This review is absolutely spot-on as far as I'm concerned. And I don't see why a bad but articulate review deserves personal criticism of the writer. Anyway, I agree with all of it - I think this may be the worst film I've seen for several years. I love loads of ther Mike Leigh films - but Another Year is excrement.
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Guest 06/21/2011 6:06:00 AM
I thought it was interesting watch.
Some people like that type of careful observation.
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Guest 06/21/2011 6:04:00 AM
As is, Another Year is already worth seeing.
I hope this review doesn't turn any heads away from this movie.
I think if anything, it shows the reviewer's point of view rather than the film's.
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06/12/2011 7:50:00 AM
Smug? Passive-aggressive? Insufferable? Reviewer, review thyself. (Oh, I guess you already did).
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Baudelaire 06/09/2011 3:08:00 PM
Just once, it would be nice to read a film review in the Voice that does reflect the agenda du jour, although it's comforting to see nihilism and misanthropy are a constant. One gets the feeling this film never stood a chance with the oh so hip reviewer from the opening titles.
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Jimoth 05/24/2011 11:43:00 AM
you are an idiot. I can't tell if this is a joke interview or not
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Doug 02/25/2011 8:27:00 AM
This is the most idiotic review I have ever read. Honestly.
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Joekeith30 02/23/2011 3:46:00 AM
I agree with John Matthew Mattie - the reviewer conveys such a general sense of knowing smugness I find so common among certain film reviewers - it has become almost a requirement of the genre. And yet, beneath the knowing tone there seems little there. I think in the context of Leigh's work - he presents here a mildly hopeful image based on the idea that having someone to get old with and to share life with is perhaps a profoundly mitigating factor to the terror or short story of it all. (In this it is like an older version of the couple in High Hopes) I don't think they are intended to represent "marriage" - think of all the profoundly unhappy married couples in Leigh's films - but I do think they do hold out a counterpoint - an image of at least some precarious contentment that is enriching. And it isn't that the house guests are "single" but that they are lonely - that seems a crucial difference.
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aryabhatt 02/18/2011 5:51:00 PM
I think this review is slanted. When you throw in words like "the happiest post-middle-aged married couple in the whole of the London suburbs" or "Manville’s has been the most praised; it’s also the most grotesque", it doesn't leave much room for honesty. It is possible that she didn't like movie or acting, but if she cannot flaunt her flair for exeggeration while accusing the film to be ingenuous.
I call it bad review. That doesn't mean that movie was any better.
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02/16/2011 6:49:00 PM
I think the failure of this review is that, honestly, said reviewer is being just as smug as she accuses the characters and Leigh himself as being. I didn't get a "married life is wonderful" vibe from the film at all. In fact, its every bit as damning as it is defending of these relationships. Any fan of Leigh's work would probably recognize the carefully played commentary on the British class system (The well-to-do succeed in everything...even love). Critics might very well be squawking because nothing explodes. I don't think that the film, or any of Leigh's films, ask you to like or dislike the characters, leaving a large chunk of the audience in complete disgust. Maybe she's just bitter for having watched too many "Human Centipedes", or worse yet, the droll, anti-emotional critics darling "Social Network," with its sneering, whiny richies and borderline autistic provocateurs. Thanks to Mike Leigh for making a film with some guts.
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Jhbonmain 02/13/2011 2:24:00 PM
It's not a "slanted review", it's just a review, one which you obviously disagree with but it's not slanted it's the reviewer's honest opinion. You should try to distinguish between the two.
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1191647 02/11/2011 1:22:00 AM
Wondering if any critics felt that Another Year was nauseating, I read several reviews. I live in the Midwest; There are many loving and fulfilled people, both married and unmarried, in my life; I have issues, and my general assumption is that most people do.
All of that does not mean that I or anyone else is somehow more or less able to see this movie as intelligently as the next person. Unfortunately, some of you who have commented, seem to think that those who have not given the movie glowing praise for its specific view of human existence are unhappy, disgruntled and angry people. That, I can say with certainty, is presumptuous.
I agree with horseandrider --the message that married equals happy and single means unhappy, deluded and unfulfilled is demeaning to single people and it comes close to being a sermon in the movie.
Why do people make mean-spirited comments about the critic? Just critique the movie and the review. Who thinks they are so gifted and wise that they can analyze the mind and soul of a critic based on one review –or even a few? If you think you are, your assessments of movies would seem to be projections of your unconscious issues.
Pinter and Beckett have had an impact on my understanding of the human condition. I hope to forget Another Year entirely.
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horseandrider 02/10/2011 8:19:00 PM
Great review - I'm waiting for someone to mention how intellectually and emotionally dishonest it is in its wildly false dichotomy of single = sad and needy while married = obviously functional. The truth that Leigh isn't willing to film is that isolation is bad for humans in general and dangerously able to warp any spirit over time. If Leigh were honest, he'd take one member of the "happy marrieds" and film them after their smug condescension was shattered by the affair, divorce, or death of their son. Now that might be a movie worth seeing.
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guest 02/10/2011 7:09:00 PM
I have never read such a slanted review before which I could not disagree with more, which means that I will never take seriously what this reviewer had to say.I have never commented before but I find this reviewer to be very cynical and really doesn't know how to appreciate life's simple pleasures. A true New Yorker! I think Tom and Gerry are wonderful, non-judgmental people that all couples should aspire to be like. Their friends are all of the dysfunctional people, that I'm sure the New York reviewer can relate to, rather than the "normal" couple who have a real connection to one another, and have their feet firmly on their ground. Their relationship is something to be treasured. Obviously this "critic" doesn't know the first thing about healthy relationships.
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paul t 02/06/2011 10:14:00 PM
i totally agree with your review
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Kkowars 01/30/2011 9:27:00 PM
I wanted to like the movie, I really did. But it was awful. I almost walked out but didn't- two hours of my life I'll never get back. It was like a reality show in an average person's home. Might be interesting to the people living there, but tedious to watch.
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Guest 01/28/2011 9:31:00 PM
I agree with every word in this review. I went into this movie with no prior knowledge, beyond Mike Leigh's reputation and the fact that it was generally well-reviewed. Afterward, I was amazed not only by what an awful, meaningless film it was, I was flabbergasted to learn that it's been nominated for Best Original Screenplay! Well, what's original about it is writing a film with no plot, no drama, no interesting dialog, and not a single character you can like or care about. Some of the friends I was with walked out about halfway through, and I made the mistake of sticking it out -- I figured it had to be almost done (didn't bring my watch, but it felt like I must have already been watching for 2, 3 hours...).
Went to "metacritic" and found the unbelievable grade of 80, so had to click on the Voice review (rated as a 0) to find a voice of sanity. I guess for the other reviewers, it's good if it's not an action movie and folks talk with British accents.
What a bloody waste of time! I wish I could get my 129 minutes back.
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01/27/2011 3:05:00 AM
I very much disliked this movie. I read glowing reviews prior to seeing it which set my expectations high. Needless to say, the tedious characters and a plot with as much going for it as a flat line made me want to run out of the theater. Thank you for your refreshing review.
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01/24/2011 3:21:00 AM
I find this review baffling. It's as if you saw an entirely different film.
"I haven’t seen a film this year that so openly invited me to revile each and every one of its characters ... "
That summary does not even remotely describe what I saw in Another Year.
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MH 01/22/2011 3:12:00 AM
I agree wholeheartedly this was the most boring and depressing movie of all times.
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Julian Carrington 01/21/2011 5:32:00 AM
Ms. Longworth's revulsion at the improbably well adjusted Tom and Gerri speaks volumes. Insufferable and condescending? If that's really what she took away I feel bad for her.
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Stephen Sossaman 01/17/2011 10:32:00 PM
Unlike Tony, I think that this review is astute. Mike Leigh may indeed be a fine director, but this is not a good film. The characters are caricatures, although I am not as hard on the central couple as the reviewer is. We viewers are not given increased insights, character revelations, or enriching back story. Lesley Manville does a fine job, but she is never given any lines to get us beyond her desperation.
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Tony 01/17/2011 2:47:00 AM
I've been reading the Voice for more than 25 years and this is the single worst movie review I've ever read in the paper. Unspeakably amateurish. Mike Leigh is one of the world's great directors and his work cannot be flippantly dismissed.
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GBE 01/12/2011 4:40:00 PM
This is the lamest review this side of Armond White. I understand not enjoying this film, but this reviewer wears a mighty large chip on her shoulder. I saw Another Year and it was incredible. Mike Leigh is a genius. The acting astounding. The film haunted me for days.
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jk 01/09/2011 3:59:00 PM
Life is too short to bother explaining why this hack job of a review is both fraudulent and utterly imbecilic. Beginning with the declaration that Mike Leigh's ten features are "soaps" and ending with a statement that our clueless reviewer personally reviled every character in the film is enough. Karina Longworth, your cluelessness is brilliant.
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Geminijen 01/07/2011 11:02:00 PM
Am a big fan of Leigh. Haven't seen Another Year yet, -- read several reviews at Rotten Apples that suggest the glowing responses to the happily married couple, counterpointed to the appalling character of the aging, single Mary implies sexism both from Leigh as the creator of the characters and the many reviewers who ignored it. One critic suggested Leigh couldn't be sexist because he portrayed a very content, self assured single woman in Happy Go Lucky. But wasn't Poppy younger in Happy -- maybe the Mary character was a warning on what still awaits her.
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BlackEye 01/06/2011 9:39:00 AM
Karina nailed it and was properly distanced on a personal level. Hers is a professional review on all counts. Maybe your issues got in your way...I felt that I deserved a paycheck for sitting all the way through it. The whole lot of them (save for Joe and Katie) would have been better off with Jim Jones in Guyana.
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BlackEye 01/06/2011 9:33:00 AM
Precisely! Well said. Human Centipede - The First Sequence is a far better film with more hope and satisfaction.
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01/04/2011 9:07:00 PM
God, issues much Katrina? After your review I know much less about the film than about your own personal axes to grind against {parents, friends, self}. I'm sorry something is keeping you from thinking or writing clearly about the movie but next time that happens get someone else to review the film that actually has distance from the subject matter. That way it might actually be a useful review.
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Rachelhamilton 01/04/2011 5:01:00 PM
See You Tube Videos
with TAB
watch Iraq War Footage
to Rolling Stone
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Vince in WeHo 01/03/2011 3:15:00 AM
I don't agree with the disparaging comments towards Karina. But, I also don't agree with her review. I saw a completely different film. Luck was definitely not apportioned equally. But, life really is what you make it.
What I thought was kind of interesting was Tom and Gerri were enablers. Mary had an obvious problem with alcohol (as did others), but little was questioned, outside of the mild concern for drunk driving. Yet, Gerri was in a profession (counseling) that should be anything but enabling.
All in all, I enjoyed the film. Not one of Leigh's best, but with Leigh, he sets the bar so much higher than most directors, by saying this film was quite good is saying a lot. Manville definitely delivered one of the best performances. At the beginning, I was somewhat aware of her acting, but as the film progressed, she settled into the part.
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Linakano 01/03/2011 1:29:00 AM
Missed the point, I'm afraid. There are no characters in Another Year that are to be reviled.
The early scene with Imelda Staunton sets up the fundamental dilemma; Luck is not equally apportioned, nor is hopefulness. These aren't soaps, they're about the human condition, very much in the tradition of Beckett and Pinter.
The mysterious sequence between Mary (Leslie Manville) and the recently widowed Ronnie (David Bradley) is pure Pinter, where silence equals power.
Otherwise, one of things that Leigh is exploring here, as in Happy Go Lucky, is what it means to be good. It's not sentimentality or believing that life is good or fair but fighting to maintain clarity about choices.
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Over-rated 12/30/2010 1:33:00 PM
This is a very insightful review of what I do believe to be Mike Leigh's weakest and most judgmental film, its smugness was smothering.
I however loved Mary and her performance. It was actually Tom and Gerri whom I hated.
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Noabsolutesever 12/30/2010 5:39:00 AM
uh yeah dude. This from a person who gleaned everything they know about cinema from back issues of nylon magazine. please stick to writing four page treatises on the canon of sophia coppolla and harmony korine and essays about skateparks...you're out of your element.
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Jeremyinoz 12/30/2010 4:24:00 AM
Oh dear Karina, what price your credibility.
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JEsther 12/30/2010 1:41:00 AM
Correction: For the most part, we are in agreement, especially when it comes to Manville's performance
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JEsther 12/30/2010 1:40:00 AM
For the most part, ware in agreement, especially when it comes to Manville's performance.
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IB 12/30/2010 1:01:00 AM
The first sentence shows you can't count. The rest of this abortion of a review shows you can't distinguish between Leigh's attitude to his characters and your own.
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Velma 12/29/2010 10:30:00 PM
This review borders on moronic.
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GiorgioNYC 12/29/2010 10:14:00 PM
What a stupid, staggeringly clueless review. Were your actual critics on vacation this week?