Ultimately, the story's characters don't mesh together as smoothly as they should. The thin mother of an obese family including an obnoxious son who subsequently has a heart attack, thus pulling the family together, in a way that is mawkish and doesn't feel coherent.
Individually they all knock out great performances, but the star is Sally Hawkins who easily has that screen-presence that fizzes and crackles. Her latest news article elaborates on her preference for privacy and perhaps that's why I've never come across her before but I'll be looking into her body of work for more gems.
Many describe Mike Leigh's work as bitter sweet, though for my taste it's about quintessentially working class English characters who live somewhat sour lives, punctuated by moments of respite described as sweet.
