I usually really like Mike Leigh's films-even the bleaker ones. This I loathe. It purports to be "realistic" I think. It fails miserably unless I have led to sheltered a life. The sort of people portrayed here are not unintelligent but behave like the lowest of the low, they are articulate,even witty but say nothing much that rings true. Thewlis is not the actor lots of people would tell us he is-his portrayal is mannered and hammy. The rich guy is caricature and the women are stupid for the most part. People just do not talk to each other in the way they do in this movie. I find it hard to see why so many people think that it is a masterpiece of film-making. Leigh has over indulged his actors by allowing them to improvise and say pretty much nothing. I am aware that this is the way he works but the whole thing is way off beam. I just do not believe it.
Review of Naked
