Life Is Sweet

1990
R
1h 43m

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

11K

YOUR RATING

Jane Horrocks and Claire Skinner in Life Is Sweet (1990)

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99+ Photos

Comedy Drama

A shop assistant, her cook husband, and their twin daughters go about their lives in a working-class London suburb.A shop assistant, her cook husband, and their twin daughters go about their lives in a working-class London suburb.A shop assistant, her cook husband, and their twin daughters go about their lives in a working-class London suburb.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

11K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 8 wins & 3 nominations

Trivia
David Thewlis was disappointed at being given such a small role, so Mike Leigh promised him that the next time he considered Thewlis for a role in a film, "he'd be given a fair slice of the pie." Thewlis would be cast as the lead in Leigh's next film Naked (1993), and win an award for his performance.

Goofs
(at around 1h 17 min) When Wendy is laying in bed, the alarm clock to her right is clearly not ticking as the second hand is not moving.

Quotes
[Natalie and Nicola ponder having children]
Natalie: Well, I wouldn't fancy bringing one up on me own.
Nicola: It's better to be on your own than be with a bastard.
Natalie: Well, presumably you wouldn't *choose* a bastard in the first place if you had any sense!
Nicola: All men are bastards!
Natalie: *What*?
Nicola: They're all potential rapists!
Natalie: That's a bit sweeping!
Nicola: All men have got the ability to rape.
Natalie: Well they don't all do it, do they!
Nicola: But they've got the ability; they've got the desire.
Natalie: That's paranoid rubbish!
Nicola: What d'you know about paranoia?
Natalie: Well, not half as much as you do, I'll give you that.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Other People's Money/Ernest Scared Stupid/City of Hope/Life Is Sweet (1991)

Soundtracks
Happy Holidays
By Rachel Portman and Julian Wastall

User reviews55

Review

Featured review

9/10

"Aubrey's in a coma, he doesn't want any chips!"

A superb example of Mike Leigh's directing method - working with his actors, many of them regulars, making up most of the script as they go along.

No falling empires or coveted magical rings here, just the small victories and tiny despairs of everyday life - Timothy Spall's ridiculous restaurant ("Liver in Lager"??), Jane Horrocks' eating disorder and general estrangement from the world, Jim Broadbent and his grimy little burger van, Clair Skinner's endearingly sensible tomboy plumber... all exquisite little portraits. Best of all is Alison Steadman as the suburban Earth-mother trying to hold it all together.

It shows, above all, that a great film can be about anything really, as long as the direction, acting and script is of this calibre. Ben Hur, it ain't!

Absolutely marvelous - 9/10.