Watch Meantime For Free

Absolutely brilliant

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Meantime is one of my favorite amongst favorite films. It doesn't pretend to be something's it's not. This is a movie that deserves more exposure. Our three male leads, Daniels, Roth, and Oldman are excellent, but it's Daniel's powerful performance that excels in the acting honors. He and his slow brother, Roth, who's just great to watch act here, like their Mother and Father are, all on the dole. We even see what's it's like standing in line, in the dole office, amidst the frustration, anger and shame, that we see all too real in these offices. Daniels even blows his top to the office woman, after she quotes, "You're not making our jobs any easier" where he replies, "We're not talking about your jobs. We're talking about our jobs". But luck is looking up, when the Aunt offers, Colin (Roth) a job opportunity, which brings jealousy from Daniel's, who tries to sway him away from the job on his first day, where he actually goes to his place of employment, which is actually the Aunt's place, to paint her walls. See how hard this family's got it. Baldie/punk Oldman is like Daniel's sidekick, an over the top character, who makes a meal of his role, and in one scene where he crashes a girl's place with Roth, we're witness to some real scary type behavior where too it's just great acting. It's these actors that carry this movie, although we have great support too from everyone that carries their weight, including the versatile Molina as the much better off Aunt's, successful and snooty husband, where compared to the other family, they're living in paradise. The scene prior to Oldman's outburst, where he insults a black English guy while standing in an elevator with Roth was amusing, with Oldman cringing some, showed him to be really weak underneath. This black guy and his wife are brought into the story too, although they have no ties with the other players which was interesting I thought. There's so many interesting scenes in this film, though I can't imagine ever watching this without Daniels. I loved it when he and the father went toe to toe at the end, with the father just learning of the secret trip he took to the Aunt's, beating Colin who of course, nitwit that he is, got lost. It was an explosive acting moment, a scene every budding actor would love to do. And why did Daniels stay behind with the Aunt. Later the unhappy Aunt says to hubby on his return home, "John, did you ever fancy someone else", that kind of leaves our perverted imagination to run a little wild as to suggest Daniels and her were an item. Her harsh response at hubby who makes a dinner suggestion, was funny, where reading her face after, there's the trace of a smile, as though she's lifted off some heavy burden. The philosophical young housing contractor is something of a surprise too, finishing his sentences mostly with "Okay" and "Yeah". He prefers floors to chairs too when sitting. This is a must see film, to really see how the misfortunate tough it out. Director Leigh too is interesting, with the filming of some of his shots, e.g. a hallway scene where afar, the mother is trying to get the washing dryer to work. Other people enter the shot, hurrying into other rooms, whatever, only, we're only viewing them merely from the legs down. Some of Daniel's cheeky remarks, that run constant throughout, are priceless. He even nicknames his brother Kermit, the anthem following.

I live in London and am very much working class.I watched this film while shaking my head and wondering who watches this sort of dire stereotypical tripe.Then it suddenly became clear during the scene where the nice, decent, middle class man from the council popped round to fix the windows. This man, in all his smug glory, put the world to rights before retreating so the main characters (all of whom were paper thin parodies of real life), could continue arguing, slamming doors, smoking, and generally being all working class for another hour or so before the film finished.Dire. Absolutely no narrative with THE MOST ANNOYING AND IRRELEVANT SOUNDTRACK I've ever heard in a film.I was left wondering who on Earth is this movie aimed at? And then I read several reviews on IMDb stating this is a post modern masterpiece, etc etc.If you want to know about working class life in the 80's try the brilliant Made In Britain (also with Tim Roth), or the equally excellent TV series Boys From The Black Stuff. If you want to watch nearly two hours of patronising faux intellectualism passed off as cutting edge social commentary, Meantime is probably the film for you.

What happens here happens in the space between events that usually constitute a plot, in the meantime. There are only temporary allegiances between characters, if at all, before one will turn on the other, destroying any impulse that reaches upwards, beyond the meantime. A film like this works or doesn't work depending on the acting. The characters are not merely collections of traits, they do not represent abstract ideas. Their complexity and opacity alone make or break the film, whether or not it is grounded in reality. No answers, only questions. No ideas, only experiences.I came to this after hearing solid praise for Mike Leigh's work.

This movie is a portrayal of the poor working class, on the Dole and their frustration with Thatcherism. Auntie Barbara represents a working class girl, gone to college, married up and now lives a miserable existence with a cheating husband. She is fake and has to put on aires including changing her accent in order to work in the bank. Mark is a young man trying to survive in the terrible unemployment and realizing he has no future or that his future is what his parents have...nothing. Coxy shows the disillusionment of the youth as frustration and anger are apparent in his destruction of materialism. His "punk" clothing attire demonstrates his need to show the establishment the rebellion is at hand, and the working class is not going to take it anymore. Mark is slow, perhaps he is to represent how the working class is viewed by the other classes. The parents are on the Dole and have become stagnated in their existence. They see no way out of their predicament and have no goals to leave. They are products of the system.