Mike Leigh is among the best filmmakers working today, and he's crafted a little hide out of actors and audiences who continuously return to his work knowing that whatever it is that he's making will be top dog. Another Year stands along with his best films, if they could even be quantified - he's made so many great pictures that you lose count going over his filmography. In a way he reminds me of a British version of Robert Altman (though perhaps more dour); he has a wonderful way with words, and allows actors the freedom to explore their character's internal corners. Best of all, his films reflect life as it is - without judgment, without criticism; he wants us to feel them, and makes us empathize with even his most vile characters almost unconditionally. Another Year is among his most tranquil films, a reflection of life passing, and Tom and Gerri are among his most understanding, quiet characters - they listen, understand, and make peace when things are turbulent. Don't we all wish we had friends like that?

Mike Leigh's cinema is certainly not for everyone, especially those unwilling to look deep within the human emotion pool and see their own reflection. In his most recent work, he brings together practically all of his directing powers, culminating in a very serious, and sometimes charming, story focusing on a loving couple and the various sorts they have remained friends with over the years.Like so many of the greatest directors, Leigh has established a strong rapport with a small collection of actors, resulting in very strong performances every time out. Here, frequent collaborators Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville shine in their respective roles, particularly Manville as an alcoholic, depressed, middle-aged woman clinging to the one relationship in her life that has any meaning or happiness. As the film progresses, albeit without any sort of manufactured "plot," we witness life as it really is: strange, funny, at times exhausting and stressful, yet having the possibility of being rewarding and worthwhile. Though this may not be Leigh's absolute best work (my initial response to that would be All or Nothing), it does ring true as a definite Mike Leigh film. It explores the entire spectrum of human feeling and behavior, yet it doesn't do this in a cynical or manipulative manner. Rather, it seems to unfold naturally and coherently. It views us all as similar in the sense that we are subjected to this world and its cruelty, yet it is possible to attempt to rise above it through reaching out in love and compassion. Not sentimental, just hopeful.

Another Year – CATCH IT (A-) Another Year is a look inside the sixty years old married happy couple and their friends and family for next four seasons. This is not a movie but a couple's life which rolls in front of you and you just sit back and watch how they spend their lives through different seasons. Another Year is unlike any other thing I have ever seen. There are many few movies around which stand alone on strong characterization. The characterization of especially the married couple Tom, Gerri and Gerri's friend Mary is so powerful that in few seconds you forget that it's a movie as it seems like a camera on someone life. The performance by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen are simply awesome and seems so effortless. But it's Lesley Manville as Mary who steels the frame as the lonesome, drunken woman trying desperate to find some peace in her life. Her performances is one of the strongest performances I have ever seen, it just pierce through your heart. There is this melancholy pain in her eyes and voice that just indescribable. I really don't know how Academy Awards ignore her performance. She truly deserved an Oscar for her remarkable performance. Oliver Maltman as Joe and Karina Fernandez as Katie are effortlessly good. The other supporting cast also did a fine job. In the end, I do like the whole movie but except Mary, Joe and Katie other character's story isn't that exciting and I also feel that we don't see a happy ending for Mary but still it's a powerful movie which leaves a strong impression. Highly Recommended!

First things first - the DVD categorically states that this is director Mike Leigh's 'best film to date'. It isn't and possibly could never be.That's because this is an 'Autumn' film - as is Leigh's career and the age of its chief actors. It glows rather than scowls, which Leigh's best and provocative material did, such as in Secrets and Lies.There's a certain sure-footed predictability about this one and it's best for those who've grown up with and alongside Leigh and his regular gang of improviso actors. I'd also say it's more Radio 4 than 2 with a cheery middle-class turn from a wonderfully rounded (& naturally bearded) Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen. He, as civil engineer, who can mock his own unimportance and she as counsellor attached to a large GP surgery. They're sort of like chalk and cheese but often a chalky cheese and their natural chemistry and dialogue is both comfortable and rewarding.Lesley Manville supplies the humour - as scatty, tippling medical secretary at the Surgery and who decides to buy a car. "What sort?" Tom (Broadbent) asks, "Small - and red" she replies. She admires but can't always respect her friend's rock-solid marriage and underneath, she is lonely, needy and insecure.As always with a Mike Leigh, a small band of lesser characters bolster and add flavour to the mix - depressive insomniac Imelda Staunton who is sent to Gerri (Sheen) for treatment, along with various friends and family, with such notables as Phil Davies providing solid performances.So, over the course of a year, we gently (not TOO gently!) see a death in the family and a birth. As is usual in Leigh's character-led comedy- dramas, it comes to an agreeable end, without fanfare nor finality and we are left subtly satisfied, rather than on a high, or low.I have to admit that I put off buying this film as a DVD until now as it appeared to be too cosy and perhaps taking a direction away from where I prefer Mike Leigh to be. But, the central couple become rather like Aunty and Uncle, totally believable, very human and with some foibles that have to be endured, rather than enjoyed. For any lover of Leigh, it's a must, though that sedate pace and lack of Hollywood (or indeed the typical Brit comedy formula, as in Made in Dagenham, Tamara Drewe or The Full Monty) will put some off.I watched it twice in two days and like a familiar jumper, could ravel myself up in it again, actually quite soon!