Strange and good slice-of-life, but a little uneven. Some characters work better than others; Spall's is a little much and takes up too much screen-time, whereas Horrock's Nicola is just perfect. Very well-acted (Broadbent and Steadman are great, and Thewlis in a small part is excellent of course), well worth seeing, but I was hoping it would be even better.

As per usual, Leigh weaves a delicate web of impressions around his cast. Each get enough screen time, which results in a movie that is dynamic and full of sympathy for the individual. At the core of dutiful and busy lives, twins receive extra attention from Leigh.

I could find Mike Leigh films like this one quite annoying if it weren't for the fact that every single character in this rings true to me: I'm certain I've known people like them. These characters may be hyperbolic and caricatured, yet I recognise something very real in all of them. Life is Sweet ranks among Leigh's lighter and more comedic films (and is very enjoyable), but still has time to deal compassionately with the issue of bulimia. Nicola now ranks among my favourite characters ever.

Oh Blimey - female eunuchs, women who love, love for women and one of Mike Leighs finest. There is no real big drama, just Leighs attentive writing and his endeavouring care for the characters he portraits - and that's really all you need. Funnier than rest of his oeuvres, but just as engrossing.

"bollocks!" love you Nicola..

Quite nice and fairly amusing but gets tedious at times. Jane Horrocks' character, Nicola, is particularly good.

Mike Leigh makes me cry and re-evaluate life again. *shakes fist*

Absurd-like social realistic dramas, without extending themselves too far beyond their reach, don't really get better than this. What makes it that notch better than most? The humorous overplayed characters, all drawn with big fat lines, surrealistically, yet more real then anything. It's hard to explain, but in spite of all the absurd lines and acts of this film, the drama manages to intensify exponentially when the frailty of the family starts to show some definite consequences lurking.

Not bad.