Along with Alan Clark and Ken Loach Mike Leigh was at the forefront of British social realist . Of these three directors I always found Clarke the most incisive of the trio and SCUM is still well regarded even by people who were born after the release of the cinema version in 1979 . Loach however became a parody of a professional socialist shouting on a soap box and his films became increasingly polemical masturbation fantasy involving the oppressed proles . Leigh is somewhat different from his two peers . While he doesn't stuff politics down the audiences throat he hasn't really made a film with the same impact as SCUM . That said I do remember seeing MEANTIME on Channel 4 in the 1980s , liking it and discussing with my peers . Over 30 years later it has an amazing cast of British actors before they well known Leigh has always had a reputation of spotting potential raw talent and of the cast Phil Daniels was by the far best known cast member of this production . Roth , Oldman , Molina and even Pam Ferris would have to be slightly patient before becoming well known thespians . Watching the talent here is no surprise that Oldman and Roth moved in to international stardom . Roth plays a retarded social outcast trying to find his way in life while Oldman plays a fascist National Front skinhead The downside is that MEANTIME is a very mundane , low concept film where very little happens . In fact the only incident of note is Oldman's fascist sharing a lift with a big black guy . That said it is a window on the world of Thatcher's Britain where a haircut might cost as much as £1.20 and the hourly rate of pay in a dead end job was £1.70 . Most nostalgic of all was the drug of choice being Carlsberg Special Brew . Apart from that MEANTIME isn't nearly as good as I remembered it as

The trusties of English working-class life (of misery). It sounds (and looks) depressing, but turns out to be more entertaining than one would imagine; after all, this isn't a Ken Loach film. The reasons why it's good are the usual ones in a Mike Leigh film; interesting characters, excellent acting from the entire cast, and well thought-out dialog. Roth is particularly good, and shows all the Hanks's and Di Caprio's how mental retardation is really supposed to be played. The film gets better as it goes along, and all's well that ends miserably. The film could have been titled "No Hope, Hand Me The Rope". Generally, one should check out Leigh's early movies; the ones up until the late 90s.

Anyone who grew up in the early eighties in the suburbs listening to The Specials can relate to this. Leigh, as he has done with every decade provides an accurate social comment of the time, the sheer boredom of a disaffected youth, the pointlessness of life without a job and the struggle to fill the days, with something to do. Personally I think it ranks up there with Leigh finest work, helped by an outstanding performance by Tim Roth and wonderful cameos by Gary Oldman, Phil Daniels and Marion Bailey. If you're English born in the seventies and like Mike Leigh it's a must, if your not there still plenty to marvel at. Enjoy.

This is Mike Leigh's finest film.It's a shame, but inevitable given the climate of the film world, that he has become celebrated for lesser works such as "Secrets And Lies" and the odious "Vera Drake" which I found almost unwatchably patronising. By contrast, "Meantime" is the truth - as anyone who grew up in 80s London will recognise. It's the truth about what Thatcherism did to the working classes, and to human values in general in Britain. It is not by any means, however, a socialist diatribe. It is instead a gentle and touching portrait of lives ruined by forces beyond their control or comprehension. The film's anger at this injustice is all the more powerful and effective for its understatement. Leigh's other great film, "Naked", abandoned this gentleness for brutality and it suffers in comparison accordingly.That film was saved from being guilty of the charges of nihilism and point blank bleakness by the extraordinary performances of David Thewlis and the late great Katrin Cartlidge. But the acting in "Meantime" is in many ways even more impressive, as the actors have less material - less BUSINESS - to work with. The nuances of expression, of tones of voice, of body language are an object lesson in how to inject meaning and significance into silences and incoherence. Tim Roth tends to get the plaudits for his unforgettable portrayal of the mentally retarded little brother Colin, but Phil Daniels steals the film for me: his eyes are astonishing in the range of emotional depth they command, and his jerky, uncomfortable movements vividly describe a frustrated intellect driven to despair at the hopelessness surrounding him and the terrible fear that this hopelessness is creeping inside of him. But it is in the way that Daniels's character Mark expresses his love for his helpless and hapless idiot brother that finally secures the film's greatness. This love is fierce and hard-won, and most often manifested in petty abuse. But it is real love, true and unconditional, and the way Roth's character Colin responds to it is immediate and instinctive. The bond between them is the stuff of human dignity itself, and it is this that finally transcends the shuffling pettiness of the life they have had foisted off on them. The most memorable image may well be Gary Oldman's skinhead Coxy rolling around in a gigantic steel bucket, frantically beating at the sides with a piece of metal - a Beckettian device if ever there was one - but there are so many perfect shots, so much to savour. The crane shot of Daniels aimlessly wandering around Piccadilly Circus, the long shot of Daniels and Oldman disappearing down the canal tow-path, the unexpected close-ups, the sheer range of the camera-work is breathtaking in such a cheaply made film.If Mike Leigh ever makes a better film, or Phil Daniels ever gives a better performance, it will be a miracle. The fact that the film has gone from almost complete obscurity when it was made (1983) to enjoy a steadily growing cult status is indication that, gradually, more and more people are realising that, far from being a dated curio, this is a very special and precious piece of cinematic art indeed.