All or Nothing
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation (MGM) | Release Date: October 25, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
An exhilarating movie about sadness and renewal. Read full review
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Exquisitely textured film. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There are moments in All or Nothing of such acute observation that we nod in understanding -- The closing scenes of the movie are just about perfect. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
All the drinking, arguing and brooding, which in lesser hands might have produced oppressive and unvarying dreariness, somehow adds up to a tableau of extraordinary vividness and variety. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
It's a strangely stirring experience that finds warmth in the coldest environment and makes each crumb of emotional comfort feel like a 10-course banquet. Read full review
90
Film ThreatRich Cline
It's a remarkable film; the dialogue takes our breath away with its sharp skewering of expectations and realities, the bleak honesty is balanced by the freshness of real life and moments of raw truth and comedy -- Don't miss it. Read full review
90
SalonCharles Taylor
Mike Leigh returns to the council flats of London -- and delivers a richly Dickensian masterpiece about working-class family life. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The acting in All or Nothing is superb. Everyone creates a character we can immediately register and recognize as true. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
No picnic to watch -- Leigh's camera is unsentimental and unsparing. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Though it's become almost redundant to say so, major kudos go to Leigh for actually casting people who look working-class; you'd be hard-pressed to get an American studio to go along with that, even though Leigh alumni often become famous. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderMeredith Brody
A comic and moving examination of life in an impoverished South London housing complex, features marvelous performances, especially from Leigh stalwart Timothy Spall. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Leigh's uncanny ability to mine emotional truth packs the usual punch. And the trademark flashes of humor sprinkled throughout ease the bleakness of the landscape. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Leigh doesn't sentimentalize these tragic, dead-end lives but allows his characters to be ugly and stupid, to make horrendous mistakes. Sometimes they're laughable, and yet there's never the sense that Leigh is mocking them. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Leigh isn't breaking new ground, but he knows how a daily grind can kill love. Strong stuff. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Suffers from touches of sentimentality in its last portion -- Many viewers may welcome this last-minute brightening, though. If so, All or Nothing could join "Topsy Turvy" and "Secrets & Lies" as one of Leigh's most widely enjoyed recent films. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Hollywood hardly ever pays attention to such people, and the average moviegoer won't either. But Leigh makes an irrefutable claim that their lives matter, and that attention must be paid. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Everything you've come to expect, and cherish, in a Mike Leigh movie. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
The wealth of behavioral detail and observational humor make for some rewarding drama that will resonate with many viewers. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's a hard-won comfort, found here over a bleak stretch of days, but All Or Nothing makes it look like the best life has to offer. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
In an outstanding ensemble, Spall is particularly good. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
All or Nothing has some appealing performances, several scenes of absolutely shattering domestic drama and an uncanny aura of gut-wrenching, documentarylike authenticity. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
In that rare moment, the movie relaxes its rictus of pain and actually dares to feel good. Moments like these aren't just a negotiation between all and nothing -- they're everything that allows us to care about even those characters who only slouch and shriek ''F -- - orfff!'' Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Grueling, heavy-handed, and surprisingly insight-free. For once, a gaggle of Leigh characters hasn't jelled beyond the level of its cast's conceits. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
There's no doubt that Leigh gets inside his characters' lives. But that's often someplace we'd rather not be. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A mostly glum, gray and grim story lit by a fugitive sunbeam. Read full review
60
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Will probably appeal only to the most committed of Leigh fans. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
Pure misery. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
This feelbad movie makes you glad when it's over.
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Leigh piles up woe wider and higher than ever before. That he has done so with his usual skill, perception and alertness to relieving gestures of human tenderness and care does not keep All or Nothing from being a pretty glum, overly familiar business. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
The empathy never lifts off -- never becomes poetry. It doesn't help that Leigh indulges his unfortunate habit of larding the soundtrack with draggy, mournful music, heavy on the cello. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Though more cathartic than redemptive, this sob-racked confession is the payoff for two hours of low-grade misery. Read full review
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