Directed by Mike Leigh • 1980 • United Kingdom
Starring Phil Davis, Brenda Blethyn, Lesley Manville
One of the finest of the films that Mike Leigh produced for the BBC early in his career, GROWN-UPS focuses on the relationship between Dick (Philip Davis) and Mandy (Lesley Manville), a young, newlywed couple whose marital tensions are exacerbated by those around them, including their next-door neighbor (Sam Kelly)—who just so happens to their stern ex-teacher—and Gloria (Brenda Blethyn), Mandy’s cringe-inducingly oblivious sister, whose constant presence becomes a source of immense irritation. In true Leigh fashion, things come to a head in a climax that is brilliantly funny and heartbreaking at the same time.
Up Next in Mike Leigh at the BBC
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Home Sweet Home
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1982 • United Kingdom
Starring Eric Richard, Lorraine Brunning, Kay StonhamThe dysfunctional home and romantic lives of three postal workers spill over into their work in this tragicomic slice of life from Mike Leigh. Gordon (Timothy Spall, in the first of his celebrate...
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Four Days in July
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1984 • United Kingdom
Starring Brid Brennan, Des McAleer, Charles LawsonThe last film Mike Leigh directed for the BBC examines the Troubles in Northern Ireland through the stories of two working-class Belfast families—one Protestant, the other Catholic—both expecting ne...
