Leigh captures the restless, maddening, emasculating, demoralizing stench of poverty and unemployment with an acuity and piquancy that’s nearly unrivaled in cinema.
80
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
Like all of Leigh's films and plays, it was devised though improvisational exercises in which the actors created characters based on someone they knew. As such, it is a mixture of flawlessly played ensemble scenes and brief, often wordless moments.
70
The Guardian
The Guardian
A made-for-TV story of an unemployment-wrecked family in Dalston that brought together fresh faced talents Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. Filled with the deadpan naturalism that became Leigh's signature. But what's most remarkable about it is the showcase it provided for its two new stars, each beginning his career at what was another time of crisis for British cinema.
50
The New York Times
The New York Times
The first hour is given to aimless glimpses of aimless existences, and the second, in which Colin finds a sort of deliverance, is contrived in concept and awkward in execution.
