This movie was well on its way to becoming an unforgettably devastating angry young man' classic. What a shame that it lost its balance half way through and squandered it's potential. What makes this film worth seeing are the incredible verbal histrionics of David Thewlis. He imbues his character with such satiric and cynically scathing wit that he leaves the audience reeling from his machine-gun like existential rants against humanity. Many of the early scenes are funny and mesmerizing thanks to him. The rest of the film unfortunately does not fare as well. It is somewhere shortly after Thewlis' scene with the night watchman that the movie begins to lose its momentum, but it is the last third of the film which truly drags thanks to Director Mike Leigh's unfortunate decision to concentrate too much on the character of the deviant landlord. This character was not only one dimensional and uninteresting but totally unnecessary. His arrival throws the film's mood and energy way off.
David Thewlis gets a 10. The film itself rates an unfortunate 6.
David Thewlis gets a 10. The film itself rates an unfortunate 6.