Another Year

Condensing an entire year so that it fits within the celluloid boundaries of a single movie and then taking that time to contemplate age, growth, love, loss, joy, melancholy, and the unstuck qualities of emotional maturity sounds like an inevitable invitation to overstuff the narrative. But in the wise, unpretentious hands of Mike Leigh, Another Year is a free-flowing delight and an absolutely superb showcase for a grand collection of poignant performances. There's nothing bloated about this movie and it never gets bogged down in any formulaic attempts to shine light on the many themes it sweetly explores. Instead, it's a small, relatable story of people living their lives on their own terms and not by the rules laid down by a standard story structure.

Dividing the narrative into seasonal quarters, each with their own tone and shifts in weather (literally, of course, but there's also a metaphorical accompaniment), Leigh lets the story unfold with graceful realism. Aging couple Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) are at the centre of the story and their undying love for each other represents the ideal that the rest of the characters are searching for. There's their funny, friendly son Joe (Oliver Maltman), their hard-eating, hard-drinking pal Ken (Peter Wight), and Gerri's loopy, self-absorbed co-worker Mary (Lesley Manville). These characters are all in the hunt for happiness and whether or not they find it this year or another is a major focus of the movie.

The ambiguity with which each character arc progresses is wonderful to watch, but it is the comfortably consistent, hugely entertaining performances that make each step forward one worth taking. Broadbent and Sheen are so convincing as the adoring married couple that it becomes difficult to picture them apart. They each inhabit their character and their shared relationship with such heartfelt honesty that their connection believably stretches beyond the frame. The way their performances bring the separate characters to life, who then work together to create a singular dramatic force, is an astonishing feat that deepens the emotional texture of the movie.

In smaller, louder roles, Wight and Manville devour their various scenes, stealing the spotlight with greedily hilarious results. At one point, Wight's Ken barrels through a home-cooked meal without ever relinquishing his hold on the collective attention of his peers. As he stuffs his face, he continues to speak through mouthfuls of food and plundering gulps of wine. He's practically a machine at the dinner table, a multitasking beast that consumes all and can never have enough. It's a very funny scene (one of my favourites in the movie), but it is especially enjoyable in how it captures the comedy in such human terms. Ken's demeanour may be humorous, but Wight's performance ensures that the character is far more than a one-note joke.

The same goes for Manville, who plays Mary as a feisty, wacky woman whose words pour from her lips in a seemingly inexhaustible stream of nervous energy. She's bubbly and lovable and always explaining every detail of her apparently frustrating life. She's constantly on the verge of facing some sort of crisis, but she tries to hide her problems behind her big, boisterous personality. Heavy drinking tends to bring the issues to light, though, and so it's never too surprising that Mary is an alcoholic sip away from an emotional breakdown. Like Ken, she has problems and she provides many of the movie's laughs, but Mary's arc provides her with genuine dramatic stakes.

It's all quite complicated in a believable, engaging way, as each character moves through this Year without any blatant signposts to guide them on their individual journey. This gives the narrative a sense of openness that feels unpredictable and rooted in raw reality. In terms of heavily embraced themes, Leigh is always highlighting and praising the importance of family, but he does so without ever adopting a preachy approach. The connections between the characters and the ongoing relationships operate as a sort of path that keeps each person from straying too far in the wrong direction. But it isn't as simple as treating the family and friends as a sort of map to blindly follow. They are there as support and to give each other's lives a sense of meaningful hope.

This gentle, tender tale of growing up and old while surrounded by people who care is especially moving due to its refreshing cast of characters. Some are happy, some are sad, and some are almost giving up, while others are just beginning to see the light. Representing a younger generation, Joe is almost in a different category than the rest of the movie's main characters. But even then, he is tied to everyone else by more than just blood and history. He's in the same boat as them all, looking for love and hoping for joy, his arc functioning as a reminder that life's most profound pursuits are not necessarily altered by time. Mike Leigh and his cast have a lot to say in this movie and it's all anchored by the notion that, for better or for worse, life continues on and some things never change. For these characters, this is just Another Year in their lives, but it's two hours of sweetly cinematic bliss in mine.