Amazon.com

The brilliant writer-director Mike Leigh (Topsy-Turvy, Secrets and Lies, Naked) has crafted an utterly compelling movie about one of the most controversial of topics. An irrepressibly hopeful housecleaner in 1950s London named Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton, Antonia and Jane, Shakespeare in Love) mothers everyone around her, from her own family to helpless shut-ins and lonely men living in tiny, isolated apartments. None of these people know that Vera also helps young women get rid of unwanted pregnancies, until the police appear and tear her world apart. Vera Drake isn't just an inspired character portrait; through simple and straightforward scenes, the movie weaves a quiet but mesmerizing portrait of how people--both wealthy and poor--cope with adversity. Though wrenching, Vera Drake has too much life to be depressing. Leigh is deservedly famous for his work with actors; every character brims with truth and Staunton's performance deserves every award it could possibly win. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (50)

** Subtly Beautiful **
The main actress (Imelda Staunton) who plays the charachter Vera Drake did a fine job in this movie.The movie does not hit you over the head with moral preaching about abortion ... it gives you very subtle emotions based on how those around Vera Drake respond to what she is doing when she is found out.There is no happy ending here.It is not a feel good movie, but just the same it is beautiful.I believe Imelda Staunton was nominated for an Oscar for this role.Hillary Swank (who I love) won the Best Actress Oscar this year for her role in Million Dollar Baby (another fabulous movie).I'd say between the two of them, its a tough call.

Incredible film
Genre: Drama, Foreign (English language)

Genre Grade: A

Final Grade: A

This was an amazing film about a nice little old lady doing something she believed was right. She was so innocent in her ways that she did not realize the gravity of what she was doing. Or perhaps she did but truly did not feel any remorse or wrongdoing in what she did. The acting from Imelda Staunton was superb (no wonder she was nominated for so many awards), and the story itself is extremely sad but holds a powerful message. It offers no strong conclusion, but leaves it up to the viewer to decide whether the fate of Vera Drake was fair or not.

I have my own views on abortion (which most of you know that I am strongly against it), but I can't help but appreciate the message this movie brings forth. It reminded me of The Cider House Rules in that its message gave some hint to how pro-choice people feel. It is important to me to understand controversial issues before making firm opinions on them, but even then I am never for sure, because I strongly believe that it is up to the individual to believe what they wish to believe. I am anti-abortion, but I don't think my views should be enforced on people who feel differently.

Sorry for the social commentary, I realize this is only supposed to be a movie review. Just pass it off as bad journalism.

Overwhelming
This is an important movie about the moral dilemma posed by abortion. Abortions, legal or illegal, have always been performed, and women from all social strata, have always found themselves in need of a helping hand, whether the law upheld that kind of help at particular times or not. The movie shows this by juxtaposing the women whom Vera Drake helps, who cannot pay for abortion, with those who can pay to have an abortion done by a doctor, or by showing that in some cases at least, abortion cannot be totally repudiated. We witness two such cases in the film as one woman becomes pregnant, we understand, after a man forces himself on her, or as another woman, who already has seven children, and whose husband just doesn't understand how consuming this is, cannot have an eighth. The film convincingly shows how women have to deal with their problems in secrecy, in back chambers, and continue to live life as usual and pretend that these things don't happen.

Vera Drake is a kind and generous woman, too kind and too generous, the movie shows, for the world surrounding her, the cruelty of which is encapsulated in the woman who procures "clients" for her, pocketing money from these women without Vera's knowledge, as well as doing Vera the favour of selling her various food products (such as sugar) of which, we understand, there was a shortage in those postwar years.

Imelda Staunton gives an overwhelming performance, exhibiting Vera's kindness, reliability, generosity, naivete, heartbreak, sense of shame, and, finally, despair, with great credibility. I agree with some of the other reviewers who state that the movie doesn't try to take sides. And yet I think that the police detective and the woman police constable's kindness to Vera suggest that they feel sympathy for her and even understand what she did and why she did it. I especially felt that as a woman, the female PC knows that this is a problem all women are in danger of encountering, and this could be a pointer towards interpretation of the movie. I don't know whether this is what the director intended to suggest, but I think that this is something that came across, the way I saw it at least. This is possibly one aspect of the strength of this film, that it allows for this interpretation.

All performances were riveting and convincing, the cinematography superb, the 50s austerity convincingly recreated. As some reviewers have already noted, the film is quite bleak and depressing. It is supposed to be, given the subject that it treats. It is a matter of the viewer coming prepared for a film which tackles a hard to swallow, painful, yet central,social issue. The series of abortions that Vera performs is emotionally draining, though not graphic, and the end is demoralizing. But all the more realistic and powerful in being so.

I highly recommend the film, provided the viewer knows what to expect. It's not meant to be a feel good movie, but a movie to make one think and debate. It may depress you to some extent, but I don't think it will leave you indifferent. Personally, I felt that the film is subtly but convincingly suggesting that there is no use trying to pretend that abortions don't happen / shouldn't happen,won't happen, and that the law and society do not / did not have the compassion necessary to deal with this problem faced by women. You may come to a different conclusion, but the point is that the film is strong enough to provoke discussion and possibly disagreement amongst its viewers.

Masterful
What a difficult pleasure "Vera Drake" is.It is a film that has great acting and writing, yet deals with a controversial subject that is no less hard to approach now than it was in 1950, when the story takes place.The word "abortion" isn't even mentioned until the film is near it's end, but the watcher knows precisely what is being dealt with long before that.

Imelda Staunton is truly powerful in the title role, a simple woman who only wants to help others.As soon as she appears on the screen, one is drawn into her life and family.We follow Vera as she does what she can to make life easier for those around her. We see the consequences of Vera's "assistance" in areas that the world she lived in hadn't figured out how to deal with yet. In the end, I left the film wondering why we still haven't come to grips with this issue 55 years after the events in this film took place.

this movie is so beautiful
I always thought that this movie was going to be bad and boring, but I was wrong, this one is brilliant, it's very special for it's content, Imelda makes a great performance, it's plot is very dramatic,it's so beautiful, if you are looking for good drama don't miss this one. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This low-key, thoroughly delightful comedy is the product of Scottish comic/actor/writer/director Craig Ferguson's goofy and sweet imagination. Ferguson plays retired rock star Paul Kerr, a 1980s sensation whose whiskey-fueled antics in a Welsh mansion land him, involuntarily, in a psychiatric hospital. In short order, an old bandmate (Ralph Brown) turns up to help Paul get sober, and a long-lost love (Jemma Redgrave) introduces the mortified musician to an adolescent daughter (Charlotte Church) he never knew he had. Lots of catching up and relationship repairs ensue, but the film is really an off-center, eccentric comedy in which quaint villagers debate the origins of guitar feedback and 75-year-old veteran actor Joss Ackland (Surviving Picasso) can be found performing Roy Orbison rockers. A pleasant surprise is golden-throated Church's acting debut; revered for years as a singing prodigy, she proves to be a natural actress and outstanding pop-song stylist. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Better than it looks
I'll be there is actually a good movie. Ferguson is funny, and has some great like (like Silence of the Lambs line) Church's acting is good and her singing voice is even better. A totally enjoyable movie.

Vibrant and alive! A voice of an angel!
Charlotte's voice is amazing in this movie and Craig Ferguson was fun to watch. I've always liked his films because he seems so easy going and interesting. Charlotte's voice game me chills!

It's a cute story of a girl who finally meets her rock n roll father and develops a bond through music. But, it wasn't easy with a protective mother who still feels wronged after 17 years.

I never listen to critics since they usually like what they like and really care little about the publics perceptions. If you go into it without any expectations just purly to relax and enjoy then this is the movie to see. Especially for the kids. It's truly a movie about forgiveness, pursuing your dreams, and family.

Pretty good
I actually really enjoyed this movie. I think that Charlotte Church really shines and proves that she is a very diverse, talented person. She proves that she can sing things other than just classical music and she can sing it incredibly well. I am a huge fan of Charlotte Church, which is why I saw it in the first place. She really does shine in this movie, which is why I gave it a higher rating.

On the other hand, it is very "British" if you know what I mean. The British humor is pretty funny, but it is a little hard for me to find sense in some of it toward the end. Also Craig Ferguson's character has a "colorful" vocabulary, mainly in the beginning, which I got sick of. If it weren't for these things, I would have given it five stars simply because Charlotte Church is truly amazing. She's not a bad actress, either. All in all, it was worth seeing, and I'd definitely see it again.

Captured
This movie is easy to rate - couldn't get enough. It is a very good movie with a lot of funny snaps. The pet's name, Digger's coment on Scottish women are two that come to mind. Where's the sequel? She has to graduate from the Academy, right?

What's wrong with it?
Critics are being awful to this film and it flopped at the cinema and after I watched this DVD I asked myself why. Despite what you may of heard, this film is actually quite good. Its a good British film and beats a lot of other comedies out there. Craig Ferguson was aboslutely brilliant in his role and wrote a fantastic script, he has the best lines. Jemma Redgrave wasn't the best I had seen. It was painful to watch her sometimes. As for Charlotte, she was awkward in parts but mostly, she fitted into her role well. Other great characters, Ralph Brown and the bands manager (from buffy) were also great fun to watch. This film is just so charming I dont understand why it has done so bad. Its a film for anyone, but uses explicit language a lot (mainly from the rockers). There are laugh out loud moments and the directing I thought was really thoughtful. The best scene of the whole film is the first one, with the mixture of Olivias singing in the church and her long lost Father rocking about alone in his mansion drunk off his face. Its not a perfect piece of cinema of course, it has flaws, like some of the acting (ok, just Jemma Redgrave) and Craig putting flashbacks in but its an original british film which should be appreciated by all, not just Charlotte fans. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Writer-director Mike Leigh, after a brief detour into the period drama of Topsy-Turvy, returns to the lives of contemporary working-class Brits. Phil (longtime Leigh collaborator Timothy Spall, Secrets and Lies) is a quiet taxi driver whose marriage to Penny (Lesley Manville) has gone dry, though neither has quite realized it. They bicker with each other and their children and try to find some pleasure in going out with friends, but their friends have their own struggles--even Penny's coworker Maureen (Ruth Sheen), whose naturally buoyant personality is colliding with her resentful daughter's pregnancy. All or Nothing is among Leigh's bleakest films; the relentless misery of these characters' lives is hard to take. But thanks to the incredibly committed acting, when moments of tenderness come, they have a devastating impact. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Liegh Wins Again
Granted, this movie is not for all tastes. It's virtually unrelenting look at the struggling working class of Britain can be bleak and troubling. However, for those who frequent the local art house, and those who have found themselves drawn to the previous work of Mike Leigh it is a must.

Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville are a common-law couple who work as a taxi drive and a grocery store checker respectively. They are raising two teenagers, a shy, bookish daughter who works as a janitor of a nursing home and a son who does little but verbally abuse his mother while he sits in front of the TV. Plot here is not the emphasis. Slice of life is.

Bleak as this scenario sounds (and it only scratches the surface) this is a film that rewards the patient viewer as the ending does offer a healthy dose of redemption. Along the way the acting shines (typical for Leigh films) with Spall, Manville, and Ruth Sheen as the friend and neighbor dealing with a pregnant teen age daughter turning in award worthy performances.

Leigh, The Lady Godiva of British Film Direction
Darling of the British movie elite, Mike Leigh indulgently delves yet again into his peculiar facination with a largely ficticious and fanciful working class, more Dickensian than it is contemporary. Ugly, uncouth, incoherent and nihilistic, 'All or Nothing' is an often cumbersomely self-conscious piece of drivel, offset only by one or two touching scenes between Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville. The film leaves this viewer wondering if Leigh has actually ever met people from the English working class, since the films characters are such appalingly carricatured Fag Ash Lil and Andy Capp types. Infantile and disciplinary impotent adults vie with teenagers whose script consists largely of "fak orf" whenever their parents address them. Certain scenes appear as random flights of fancy offering no insight or even evident connection with the plot (such as it is). Taxi driver Phil (Spall) drives off to the beach after switching his radio off. Standing balefully looking out to sea we are unsure whether he is contemplating suicide or lamenting the one that got away on his last fishing trip. Next cut to Phil driving back home. Huh?
'All or Nothing' may appear to be the stuff of "gritty realism" to Leigh and the cosy arthouse world he inhabits, but in truth it indicates just how out of touch with the real-life subjects he and his cohorts truly are.

The life as a depressing thing
I think that Mr. Leigh is a truly good director. His work is honest, not common in cinema show.
But, "All or Nothing" is really depress movie. From the begginning to the end. All is full of problems. It's like a clichè: poor people, weak people, unsmart people, unhappy people, unsane people, violent people, fat people, ugly people.
C'mon Mr. Leigh: life's not too good, but on the other hand, it's not too bad. Please put your great gift in the other side of life and you give us a smile¡ You can do this¡

prozac nation, if they could find some!
Just like all of Leigh's films, you commit to them and want to own them. This one however, has no real comic relief and frankly I couldn't shake the mild depression I developed while watching. Be careful, this a great movie but a real downer.

Top Notch
Difficult, but very much worthwhile ensemble piece from British director and all around film genius Mike Leigh.

The story, as it is, revolves around a group of people living virtually hand to mouth in a London housing project. The class consciousness of British society, as it so often is in Leigh films, is on full display here as is the absolute top notch acting another mainstay of Leigh movies.

This isn't the best movie in Leigh's cannon, but it speaks volumes about Leigh and his vision that even one of his "lesser" films still warrants five stars. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This early Mike Leigh film was made for British television in 1983 (released theatrically in 1985), and introduced both Gary Oldman and Tim Roth. Set in the Thatcher era, the story--typically for Leigh--is more a matter of dramatic evolution than a conventionally realized script. The action revolves around a middle-class family whose male members are all on the government dole, and whose matriarch (Marion Bailey) is long-suffering in the sight of her two sons, one a half-wit (Roth) and the other a cynical bum (Phil Daniels). Oldman plays the latter's skinhead pal, mostly a goof with no future, and Alfred Molina portrays a relative of the brothers strongly resistant to nudging their lives in a more constructive direction. The story, such as it is, is actually a series of discrete, deceptively unambitious, and highly entertaining scenes that could just as easily stand on their own as belong to some greater whole. Leigh, not quite fully baked as a filmmaker in the early 1980s, occasionally engages a rather obvious wit, such as shooting a long take in a laundry room from an angle that favors the sight of a washing machine and ignores the characters from the waist up. The remarkable actors, however, are as deeply immersed in their roles as in any of Leigh's work, and the film is ultimately as moving and funny as one expects from this unique director. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (10)

meantime
This realist picture of the british working class was orginally made just for T.V. The reason it is now realeased on video is proberbly due to its highly noteworthy cast and the fact its directed by Mike Leigh. However "Meantime" truely deseaves to be rediscoved- its a little gem! Set on a council estate in London, Leigh masterfully caputures the sights and sounds of his environment. The film centres around the unemployed Pollock family, particually sons Mark and Colin. Mark(Phil Daniels) has an attitude of frankness and nihilism, not unlike that of johney in Leighs "Naked". Colin(Tim Roth) on the other hand is slow witted, confused and vunerable to the outside world. Through-out the film we sense Marks well guarded affection for his younger brother as he trys desperatly to protect him. Like most Leigh films "Meantime" is mostly improvised, and as usual, he has a fine ensemble of actors who wont disappoint. Daniels and Roth are both equally convincing and absorbing in their roles- they even look like brothers! Gary Oldman makes his debut and theatens to steal the whole show as impish, skinhead Coxy. But perhaps the most commendable performance here belongs to Marion Bailey as the middle class aunt who attempts to put an optomistic smile on their situation(only to have her good intensions torn apart by Mark). This film may be to bleak and low-key for some viewers. There is no real story line to speak of, but it is a very pure piece of art. I'd recomend it to anyone who is willing to look beneath the surface.

Tim Roth & Gary Oldman is the best...
This movie is a great movie...to see Tim Roth and Gary Oldman when they first started out is a treat..in this movie they were kids...Roth was around 18-19 when he made this role.
I enjoyed this film a raw and gritty look at a working class family and their friends..the stand out performances are Roth and Oldman incredible.......
..i hope the distributors of Made in Britain makes this movie and the meantime/made in britain double pack availble to regional 1 folks.......

One Star for the DVD only
Don't buy this DVD. The sound is bad. The dialect in Leigh's films can be hard enough for us Yanks without having it be virtually inaudible and painfully blotted out by the music. The mix of this DVD is really bad and it spoils the movie. That said, the movie is fantastic; too bad the DVD does it such an injustice.

Don't buy this DVD.
The sound [is bad]. Leigh's characters' dialect is hard enough to understand sometimes but on this DVD the dialogue is inaudible and much softer than the music itself, which blots it out most of the time. Frustrating -- because the movie is fantastic.

A wonderful movie, an awful DVD
I'd give the movie five stars. The problem is, the DVD release from Fox Lorber is awful. There's something seriously wrong with the soundtrack; the dialog elements are drowned out by the music, and there's a synchronization problem that often leaves the left and right channel staggered by about half a second. Even more distracting, added sound effects often come from the wrong channel compared to the supposed visual source of the sound.

My guess is that instead of using a properly mixed mono soundtrack, Fox Lorber went back to the multi-channel master tapes for the mono soundtrack and used them as a fake stereo master -- but did a really bad job on the mix.

Whatever the technical explanation, it ruined my enjoyment of the movie. ... Read more