Film Review: Another Year

I have yet to see any of Mike Leigh’s other films, such as Secrets & Lies (1996), Vera Drake (2004), and Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), so I cannot comment on how his latest writing and directorial effort fares in comparison. In fact, before critics lauded Another Year, I had not even heard of Mike Leigh or his films. They highly commended Lesley Manville’s performance in the film to the point of even identifying it as an Oscar front-runner over Natalie Portman’s one in Black Swan; however, Manville did not receive a nomination and Portman appears set to win Best Actress. Nonetheless, she is at the heart of the film and a big part of the reason why it works. Another Year is an intriguing and tragic examination of familial and friendly relationships and the happiness or loneliness underneath each person; it is a bittersweet movie as life-like as it can be, but it has a scarce plot and may turn off many viewers.