Another Year

Another Year (2010) starring Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight. Directed by Mike Leigh. Happily married, mature couple Tom and Gerri (Broadbent and Sheen) play host to a group of neurotic friends and relatives. Chief among the neurotic friends is Mary (Manville), who is  in her 40s and fading fast. Mary is sort of the core of the movie, as everything revolves around her. She is deeply troubled, and she relies too much on Tom and Gerri for emotional support. She also drinks too much. Mary has an inappropriate crush on Tom and Gerri's son Joe, and she cracks when Joe finally brings a girlfriend home. Manville won several awards for her acting in this movie, and she is very good. The film, at first amusing, gradually becomes tragic. (The English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are very good -- large yellow letters against a black background.) Grade: A