An average movie

Mike Leigh is one of the most highly regarded British directors of the last 20 years and he has made many fine pictures such as ‘Naked’, ‘All or Nothing’ or ‘Vera Drake’. All these movies were socially focused but there was one small exception and it is this flick. Indeed, it was this time a costume drama and probably the most obscure movie Leigh has made so far, at least among the ones I have seen. However, even though it was not well known, it was highly recommended by Roger Ebert who even chose it as one of the best movies released in 1999, so I was really eager to check it out. Unfortunately, I thought the whole thing was fairly disappointing. I mean, it looked good, the directing was decent and all the actors gave some pretty good performances but I seriously had a hard time caring about the story. Basically, it is a Victorian tale about some real figures involved in the theater world in England back in those days. I don’t know, maybe if you are more acquainted with the people involved or their work which I was really oblivious of, it might be a really enjoyable flick but , personally, I thought it was pretty tedious. Still, it remains a very well made and very well acted piece and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

6/10