'Life Is Sweet,' And Available To Buy

Mike Leigh’s Life Is Sweet finally gets the Criterion Collection treatment, and if, like me, you are one of those people who is still buying physical objects for your library in a world where everything will soon be streaming you should absolutely put this purchase at the top of your list. I haven’t seen the entire movie in years, but just looking through the clips available online was enough to remind me of just how visceral, trying and true the thing is. Discussing the release, the New York Times talks about “a scene whose pain and beauty you recognize you must live with from the moment you see it” but that is probably something you can say for the film as a whole. This movie is also notable for being the first time many of us fell in love with Jane Horrocks, who is still weirdly underrated for all the praise she gets. Anyway, now that this is out all I need is a DVD release of John Sayles’ City of Hope and then, I guess, I can die. So let’s hurry that along.