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Meantime

Play trailer Poster for Meantime TV-MA 1983 1h 44m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Two brothers (Phil Daniels, Tim Roth) live on the dole in a small apartment with their unemployed parents in London's East End.
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Meantime

Critics Reviews

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Walter Goodman New York Times The first hour is given to aimless glimpses of aimless existences, and the second, in which Colin finds a sort of deliverance, is contrived in concept and awkward in execution. Apr 9, 2005 Full Review Sean Burns Crooked Marquee Nearly everything in the film is curdled and ugly. It’s one of the most vivid depictions of how people without purpose turn on each other. Jan 31, 2025 Full Review Brian Susbielles InSession Film It’s a slice-of-life of struggle in the family with commonplace events that fall in between. Mar 7, 2023 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Playing a skinhead doesn't require much subtlety, but Gary Oldman nevertheless manages to go well over the top. Rated: 3/4 Oct 11, 2021 Full Review David Harris Spectrum Culture Meantime may very well be the template for many of Leigh's most beloved, subsequent works. Sep 30, 2019 Full Review Nathanael Hood Audiences Everywhere A crucial glimpse into the societal ennui felt by Britain's working class during the 1980s. Rated: B+ Dec 27, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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pete r I thought it was great. All great actors, and it summed up suburban London in the early 80s very well, clever to show the parallels of relative wealth vs lower class tenement tower block existence. Gritty reality, but quite sensitive . One of my favourite movies. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/17/24 Full Review Kevin L It's not his earliest work, but this is still early Leigh in terms of when he started writing & directing with some regularity. There's most all the would-be trademarks and intentions of Leigh's work. The dialogue is very plain spoken and familiar to the actors. The standout acting is built upon characters that feel very lived in; and the ultimately sad and depressed state they fall into that mirrors much of Great Britain at the time. But it's just too endlessly dour and downbeat for me. Leigh would use comic relief more often and skillfully in later films. Here, it's largely left to the mindless skinhead figure Gary Oldman plays. It's an effective affectation, and has its humorous side, but even that gets sad and dark. My friend loved it, but I doubt he'd like later Leigh movies nearly as much. 3.3 stars Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/09/24 Full Review Shioka O Story of becoming Skinheads. That's it. I didn't know Tim Roth and Phil Daniels worked as brothers! Great casting. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/19/22 Full Review Audience Member Superb British humour, grim - understood by all those young adults that lived & struggled through the Thatcher years great cast from some fine actors Leigh at his best Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Perfectly articulates a sense of hopelesness and waste and leaves us without a conclusion to the sense of social ennui. In particular the way that Mark and Colin's family bristle with their mother's middle class sister is very well done, a masterclass in expressing class tensions. Elements of self-sabotage could in some ways be read as a criticism of the protagonists, but in the context of Mike Leigh's work I think we can be confident that wasn't what he was aiming for. Bleak. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review michael a It's films like this that should be shown at every school to illustrate exactly what it is that the older generation has given to this country to make it so much better than 40 years ago. It's bleakness and desperation is a testament to how far we have come. You can smell this movie, it's that good. And the score, although jarring, works perfectly. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Meantime

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Movie Info

Synopsis Two brothers (Phil Daniels, Tim Roth) live on the dole in a small apartment with their unemployed parents in London's East End.
Director
Mike Leigh
Producer
Graham Benson
Screenwriter
Mike Leigh
Production Co
Central Productions
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
British English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017
Runtime
1h 44m
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