surely the leigh film most reminiscent of BLEAK MOMENTS (i had to pause a couple of times from sheer cringe-anxiety), while also about as vitriolic and despairing as he's ever been (descriptors i wouldn't apply to the former film).

One of my favorite bits from Mr. Mike Leigh

At the time of writing, there was only one review on IMDb for this film and it referred to it as "easy going and enjoyable". That's pretty much the opposite of my experience with the film...personally I found the film depressing and miserablist without enough in the way of insight or catharsis to balance it out. It's annoying because I thought the film started off rather well. At some point between making Meantime (1984) and High Hopes (1988) Mike Leigh became a considerably better filmmaker.

Essential Thatcher-era cuckold farce beautifully if tiringly acted and filmed in a verité style by genius Mike Leigh. Apparently Timothy Spall (here in is Leigh debut), whose father worked for the Royal Mail, said that the lives of the three unjolly postmen were written accurately by Leigh. If so, one can wonder about how England survived this bleak time.