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Life Is Sweet

Life Is Sweet

Comedy · Drama · 1991

Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, Andy is a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, Natalie is a plumber and Nicola is jobless. This film is about how they interact and play out family, conflict and love.

Movie details

Life Is Sweet

1991 Comedy · Drama 1h 43m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, Andy is a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, Natalie is a plumber and Nicola is jobless. This film is about how they interact and play out family, conflict and love.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Life Is Sweet?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Mike Leigh

Written by

Mike Leigh

Alison Steadman

Alison Steadman

Wendy

Jim Broadbent

Jim Broadbent

Andy

Timothy Spall

Timothy Spall

Aubrey

Claire Skinner

Claire Skinner

Natalie

Jane Horrocks

Jane Horrocks

Nicola

David Thewlis

David Thewlis

Nicola's Lover

Moya Brady

Moya Brady

Paula

Court is in session

Put Life Is Sweet on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.