Mike Leigh's least favourite of his films

Does he say why Slackerlnc?

That's strange because I think it's one of his most heart-breaking and truthful. Prior to 'Another Year' I think it was the film of his that best got the balance between drama and comedy. Even though it appears Leigh is patronising his character to begin with, as the film develops it's clear he has real affection and sympathy for all of them, even (in fact possibly most of all) Jane Horrocks' sneering feckless 'rebel'.

The thing is, Mike Leigh is one of the few filmmakers who makes films about the type of world I can relate to (i.e. British upper working-class/lower middle-class people who are not quite on the margins of society or impoverished, but are still financially struggling to get by), and 'Life is Sweet' probably gets the closest to capturing those people. I do think 'Another Year' is a superior film overall, but the characters in that film are relatively prosperous compared to the blue-collar/service industry workers here.

It's also great to see a struggling and far from sanitised yet completely functional and loving nuclear family on screen for once; the type of people who stick together through thick and thin because at the very core of everything they still love each other.

Also, I'm surprised you could easily name ten other Leigh films you prefer Slackerlnc, bearing in mind that only eleven Leigh movies have been theatrically released so far (although 'Mr. Turner' should be out soon).

Personally, I think this may be Leigh's best film after 'Another Year', and I say this as someone who loves every one of the movies of his I've seen so far. 'Naked' is superb but far too bleak and misanthropic to be my favourite, 'Vera Drake' is wonderful too but because of the grim subject matter it loses out on a lot of the wry, poignant humour Leigh often brings to his films, 'High Hopes' is brilliant but some of the supporting characters descend too far into mean-spirited caricature whereas even the silliest ones in 'Life is Sweet' are at least marginally sympathetic, 'Happy-Go-Lucky' is a joy thanks to Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan but it still feels relatively slight, as does the underrated but downbeat 'All or Nothing' (which proves that James Corden is in fact a pretty good actor when he wants to be).

I've yet to see 'Career Girls' and 'Topsy-Turvy' and I'm not including his generally brilliant TV dramas like 'Abigail's Party' and 'Nuts in May'.