Grateful. I'm just generally grateful. No wonder Leigh's been knighted.

Not Leigh at his best. Very contrived and even slightly tedious. The interesting characters and sharp dialogue save it from mediocrity.

This may just be because I'm such a big fan of Mike Leigh, but I thought this was so, so underrated. I agree with the notion that few men could pull off such a sensitive film about women, and would add to that that the film is funny, touching, genuinely compassionate, that it feels so real even with its hyper-real characterisations and whimsical playing with chance, and that it features a spectacular and hugely enjoyable performance from Katrin Cartlidge.

This one has grown on me over the years and has started to mean a lot to me. Rarely have I seen so much truth and warmth in a performance, and felt so sweetly sad about a movie.

Great character-driven film. So unlike anything you'd ever see (even in indie films) in America, but then again most of Mike Leigh films are like that: real people and no glamour, almost to a fault.

Severely underrated Leigh, few men could pull off such a sensitive work about women. Slightly schematic at points, but also as weird and awkward at places as Leigh has ever been.

Great film well worth a watch.