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No one makes films like Mike Leigh. He has a lengthy improvisational period where he guides his actors through the storyline as they develop their characters. Only then does he write the script and shoot the film. This allows for greater depth of character, and more realistic dialogue, than most filmmakers can achieve.

I'd heard All Or Nothing (2002) was one of his darker projects. It's about the mostly sad existence of three families living in a housing project in London. There are times when it flirts with despair, but you never feel it's tragedy just to evoke emotions in the audience--it feels like actual working class people toughing out their lives.

Really the plots are the kind of kitchen sink drama that's been around a long time--one character is an alcoholic, one unmarried character becomes pregnant, one character has a heart attack. But it's Leigh's willingness to look at these things unflinchingly, and his ability to bring out truthful performances, that set this film apart. And though it's dark, there's also hope.