it strike me that this sort of stuff bewitch the french etc at their film festival because they fatuously see in it a corrective to the curtis or grant cool britannia and red london bus school of uk film make but in reality it just a false and fatuous all that leigh ladelled out here be an unappetising and lardy dollop of council estate ennui and over two hour of it and with precious little action and few of the light comic touch that he usually throw in to keep u engage . either he doesn not have it in him anymore or he felt that keep it unrelentingly bleak this time mark him out a a more serious film maker . whatever and it an unwelcome and redundant return to mean time territory ( now over over 20 year old ) that reek of the late 70 or early 80 and and despite it pretension have little of the flavour of modern britain . everything here feel laughably out of date from the tarty estate girl ( who look like a refugee from some obscure 50 british black and white movie ) to the comedy alcoholic mum ( who remind me of the bint in the fat le vindaloo video ) . only the subject of obesity give it any contemporary feel . and a fat lot of good that be . in short and leigh go back to basic here and try to do a ken loach and produce a real gobbler that be not worth feed to the dog on box day . here the plot and such a it be a bunch of uninteresting and taciturn work class folk living in bermondsey eke out a turgid existence ( no sign of drug though hmmm and have mike read any newspaper lately . ) variously get pantomime drunk at karaoke evening ( can not remember her name but that character be so laughably simplistic that i almost take her to be a post modernist joke slip in . ) and now and again shout at each other and have listless sex and and barely able to conjure up a wry larf between the lot of them . who do ya think you be and mr mike leigh and with your paternalistic middle class inversely romanticise view of work class life . oi leigh and no o o o. don not you think that these people can still have fun . geez and this be as bad a woody allen when he decide to go serious and make bergman movie and but without any of the feeling or the skill . here leigh try to remake himself and 20 year on but forget to look out his window and see what would change . ferchrissakes and these people would have top themselves if this be all that life have to offer them . really youre every bit a out of touch with that class a be the poor old writer of eastenders and who also seem to think that all their working class character be fit for be barneying and throw themselves at every pass bit of skirt 5 minute after the wedding ceremony . now and i use to be big fan of leigh right back to nut in may and up to life be sweet and but it need an aficionado not a sycophant ( and nowadays leigh get his fair share of the latter on both side of the channel . ) to blow the whistle on bomb like this one . please and i implore you and forget this exists and go back to the early funny one and do not and but do not and for pity sake watch the vox pop from the actor without a sick bag to hand . come in mr leigh your time be up .