 All or Nothing 2002  R, 128 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Alison Garland, James Corden, Ruth Sheen, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Kathryn Hunter, Sally Hawkins, Helen Coker
A member of the British working class, taxi-driver Phil Bassett (Timothy Spall), and his common-law wife Penny (Lesley Manville) share a loveless marriage and children whose lives appear to be going nowhere–until a tragedy hits that jolts them out of the lethargy.
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Career Girls 1997 R, 87 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Katrin Cartlidge, Lynda Steadman, Kate Byers, Mark Benton, Andy Serkis, Joe Tucker, Margo Stanley, Michael Healy, Goran Kostic
Although they were roommates during their college days, Hannah (Katrin Cartlidge) and Annie (Lynda Steadman) have not seen each other for six years. Now, they meet for a weekend in London and bring both physical and emotional baggage to the reunion.
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Happy-Go-Lucky 2008 R, 118 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Stanley Townsend, Kate O'Flynn, Caroline Martin, Oliver Maltman, Sarah Niles, Samuel Roukin, Karina Fernandez, Nonso Anozie, Sinead Matthews, Andrea Riseborough, Trevor Cooper
Thirty-year-old schoolteacher Poppy (Sally Hawkins) enjoys a life filled with optimistic expectations. She lives with fellow teacher Zoe (Alexis Zegerman) whose outlook on life counterbalances that of Poppy. One day, Poppy decides to take driving lessons, and, despite her instructor Scott's (Eddie Marsan) verbal abuse, Poppy continues her lessons with him. When she goes to a dance class with colleague Heather (Sylvestra Le Touzel), Poppy connects with school social worker Tim (Samuel Roukin), and they are attracted to each other–which leads to a jealous Scott's confrontation with Poppy.
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High Hopes 1988  PG, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Philip Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Dore, Philip Jackson, Heather Tobias, Lesley Manville, David Bamber, Jason Watkins, Judith Scott, Cheryl Prime, Diane-Louise Jordan, Linda Beckett
Shirley and Cyril (Ruth Sheen and Philip Davis) are a hippie couple who deal with life among London's lower class in this brilliant satire on Margaret Thatcher's politics. Shirley and Cyril have no children, but they do tend to the needs of Cyril's widowed mother, Mrs. Bender (Edna Dore). Meanwhile, Cyril's upper-middle class sister Valerie (Heather Tobias) and her philandering husband Martin (Philip Jackson) ignore Mrs. Bender–until Valerie decides to give Mrs. Bender a 70th birthday party and invite the whole family. The family does get together with disastrous results, but Shirley manages to hold things together.
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Life Is Sweet 1991  R, 102 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks, Stephen Rea, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, Moya Brady, David Neilson, Harriet Thorpe, Paul Trussel, Jack Thorpe-Baker
Set in the lower-middle-class home of a London family, this film provides an insightful character study of four different family members and how they interact with one another. Wendy (Alison Steadman) and Andy (Jim Broadbent) live with their teenage daughters–tomboy Natalie (Claire Skinner) and anorexic Nicola (Jane Horrocks). The girls deal differently with their optimistic mother and good natured father who runs a business from a mobile snack bar. When problems rise to the fore, Wendy strives to keep the family together.
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Meantime 1984 N/R, 104 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Marion Bailey, Phil Daniels, Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, Pam Ferris, Jeff Robert, Alfred Molina, Paul Daly, Tilly Vosburgh, Peter Wight, Leila Bertrand, Hepburn Graham, Eileen Davies, Herbert Norville, Brian Hoskin
In this made-for-British-TV film, the Pollack family–Frank (Jeff Robert), Mavis (Pam Ferris), and their sons Mark (Phil Daniels) and Colin (Tim Roth)–live in a run-down flat in London's East End. Frank is unemployed as are his sons–until Mavis' sister Barbara (Marion Bailey) offers Colin a job wallpapering her home. Mark is jealous of the offer and tries to talk Colin out of taking the job–and problems continue as other family members also manipulate each other.
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Naked 1993 N/R, 126 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Greg Cruttwell, Claire Skinner, Peter Wight, Elizabeth Berrington, Ewen Bremner, Susan Vidler, Deborah MacLaren, Gina McKee, Carolina Giammetta, Peter Whitman, David Foxxe, Toby Jones
Johnny (David Thewlis) is a drifter who heads to London to escape from the family whose daughter he has raped. He looks up his old girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp), seduces her roommate Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge), and then roams London's streets where he meets people who seem to be living on or over the edge. Finally, Johnny returns to Sophie's home and meets Jeremy (Greg Cruttwell) whose life is a mirror image of his own defiant lifestyle. There is comedy mixed with pathos in this well-acted, philosophical story that exposes the deeper psychological sides of its characters.
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Nuts in May 1976 N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Roger Sloman, Alison Steadman, Anthony O'Donnell, Sheila Kelley, Stephen Bill, Richenda Carey, Eric Allan, Matthew Guinness, Richard Ireson, Sally Watts
A middle-class couple–Keith (Roger Sloman) and Candice Marie (Alison Steadman)–arrive at a campground prepared to tent camp and follow (to a fault) the guidebook's suggestions for discovering the countryside. Neighboring campers, however, prove to be more than small distractions to Keith's meticulously planned vacation.
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Secrets & Lies 1996 R, 140 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan, Claire Rushbrook, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Elizabeth Berrington, Lesley Manville, Michele Austin, Lee Ross, Ron Cook, Emma Amos, Brian Bovell, Travor Laird
A reunion brings together family members for Roxanne's (Claire Rushbrook) 21st birthday. Those attending are Roxanne's lonely mother, Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn); Cynthia's brother, Maurice (Timothy Spall); and his wife, Monica (Phyllis Logan)–and a surprise guest, Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a young Black woman searching for her biological mother who turns out to be Cynthia.
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 Topsy-Turvy 1999 R, 160 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Lesley Manville, Eleanor David, Ron Cook, Timothy Spall, Wendy Nottingham, Alison Steadman, Louise Gold, Kevin McKidd, Katrin Cartlidge, Julia Rayner, Andy Serkis, Shirley Henderson
Director Mike Leigh presents a tribute to those well-known Victorian operetta writers: Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) and Sullivan (Allan Corduner). The focus is on the London production of "The Mikado" and the tribulations encountered as two distinctly different personalities collaborate on their ninth operetta.
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Vera Drake 2004 R, 125 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Imelda Staunton, Philip Davis, Peter Wight, Adrian Scarborough, Heather Craney, Daniel Mays, Alex Kelley, Eddie Marsan, Richard Graham, Ruth Sheen, Helen Coker, Allan Corduner
In 1950s' England, devoted wife/daughter/mother/housekeeper Vera (Imelda Staunton) also works on the side as an abortionist helping women in need of her services in her blue-collar town. When one of her "patients" ends up in the hospital, Vera and her family pay the consequences. Three Academy Award nominations were received, including Best Actress (Imelda Staunton) and Director.
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| 1. All or Nothing (2002)
2. Bleak Moments (1971)
3. Career Girls (1997)
4. Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
5. High Hopes (1988)
6. Life Is Sweet (1991)
7. Meantime (1984)
8. Naked (1993)
9. Nuts in May (1976)
10. Secrets & Lies (1996)
11. Topsy-Turvy (1999)
12. Vera Drake (2004)
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