 "I want to go to the
zoo she said, I want to go to the zoo" "Alison
Steadman as the deceptively timid Candice-Marie.
Just buy the damned DVD and have the laugh of your life!" |
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Nuts in May by Mike Leigh with Alison
Steadman and Roger Sloman
Hilarious tale of a husband and wife, strong believers in
health foods and following the 'country code', who take a camping
holiday on a site in Dorset, where their tolerance is stretched to
the limit.
An early masterpiece from Mike Leigh, Nuts in May is a
filmed-for-TV adaptation of an earlier stage play. The cast is
small (only five characters who matter), but the acting is
impeccable, and the mix of wicked humour and social observation
make this one of Leigh's best works. Keith Pratt, a man who fully
earns his surname due to his nit-picking obsessions with order and
dtail, takes his partner Candice-Marie, a well-meaning but
irritating hippie, on a camping trip. There they meet Trevor, a
shy teacher who finds their enforced friendship intrusive but is
too polite to extricate himself, and a brash young couple of
bikers, Honky and Finger, whose loud and chaotic personalities
lead them into conflict with the repressed and dogmatic Keith.
Plot isn't the issue here, since Leigh is far more interested in
teasing out the subtleties of human behaviour, which he does with
forensic skill in several unforgettable scenes. Funny and painful
at the same time, like all Leigh's successes, Nuts in May is
brilliantly acted by all concerned, though special mention must go
to Roger Sloman, for bringing to life the appalling but ultimately
pitiable Keith, and Alison Steadman, whose portrayal of fey, goofy
and tragi-comic Candice-Marie is every bit as memorable and
nuanced as her more famous turn as Beverley in Leigh's Abigail's
Party.
Delicious and hilarious observational
comedy from the critically acclaimed director & writer, Mike
Leigh. In this charming film about two English holiday-makers
enjoying the coastal town of Dorset, Alison Steadman performs
very well as Candice-Marie. Click below for more information, or to buy from Amazon:
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