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On this page: TENDER LOVING CARE

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 13.Nov.26.26

Tender Loving Care
Review by Rich Cline | 3/5

dir-scr Mike Leigh
prd Georgina Lowe
with Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Kate O'Flynn, Alice Bailey Johnson, Tilly Vosburgh, Alan Williams, Kaedon Skerritt, Eva Holovko, Amanda Lawrence, Sandy Foster, Ashna Rabheru, Brid Brennan, Peter Wight
release US 4.Dec.26,
UK 12.Feb.27
26/UK Film4 1h47

TORONTO FILM FEST

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Taking a slice-of-life approach to some big issues, veteran filmmaker Mike Leigh once again creates the space for very natural performances and vivid interaction. So the movie continually touches on ideas that make us think as it centres around the nature of relationships and supporting each other. But it also feels rather meandering and insubstantial, never coalescing around any sort of narrative drive, which leaves the characters adrift.

In London, care worker Rosie (Johnson) is delighted when her best friend Amy (O'Flynn) moves in after breaking up with a bad boyfriend. And Amy's parents Birdie (Bailey) and Geoff (Jesson) are happy to see Amy and Rosie when they drop in for a cup of tea. In their work, Rosie and Amy deal with cases involving teens in foster homes, parents who have lost custody of their children and elderly people who avoid social control. Most people resist any attempt to meddle in their lives, even if action is only taken to protect someone.

Throughout the film, characters ask, "Are you alright?" and are answered with a brush-off smile, regardless of whether they need help. Only with close friends and family are people honest about pressures they face. Because conversations are so off-the-cuff and intimate, even between strangers, each scene pulls us in, making us see things through each person's perspective. It's a fascinating approach, but it keeps us from finding a central perspective for the film.

As usual in Leigh's work, performances are improvisational, so they feel almost unnervingly natural. Bailey and Jesson have wonderfully easy chemistry as a retired couple who still feels that spark, amused by the world around them. They happily dive into sing-songs with their daughter, played by O'Flynn with a comical glint in her eye. Her scenes with the lively Johnson have a mischievous edge to them, as these two 40-ish women aren't quite ready to act their age outside of work.

In almost every scene, there's a moment when someone puts the kettle on to brew another cuppa or pours a glass of wine. It's an unusually naturalistic depiction of everyday moments between friends and relatives, so perhaps it doesn't matter that there isn't a proper plot. Things do happen that force the characters to examine their lives, but they feel like normal events rather than extraordinary story elements. So in the end, the characters feel like they simply drift away, gently leaving us with something to think about.

themes, language 11.Nov.26

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL