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22 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Does "Career Girls" confirm Mike Leigh as being a true genius?, 14 October 1998
Author: Glyn Ingram (mringram@hotmail.com) from London

With "Career Girls," Mike Leigh almost reaches the sheer greatness of his 1995 picture "Secrets & Lies," with yet another thought provoking study of modern British life. Ignore the sneers and criticisms that some critics felt the film deserved on its release:- They either weren't paying enough attention, or simply didn't understand what was going on. Although it's true that "Career Girls" lacks the more conventional plotting of his earlier film, Leigh is able to make up for it in this film's character studies and wonderfully observational dialogue. The 'Story' is relativly simple; the film charts the ups and downs of two London polytechnic students, Hannah and Annie, during the mid to late 1980's, interweaving their day to day lives in with their lives today, seven years later in the 1990's, when they decide to meet up again for the weekend in London. During the forty eight hours they spend together, a series of coincidences reconcile them with faces from their student lives, digging up a mixture of bad and good memories all over again. Doesn't sound interesting? Well, actually, it's a marvellous film. Amongst the dozens of observations Leigh makes in the movie's 90 minute running time is the way that, although many years have past since our protagonists have been together, the difficult and often painful relationship between them is still very much alive and kicking. It even creates parallels between events that occurred years ago to events that occur during the weekend over which much of the movie is set, suggesting all the more that perhaps people and relationships can never truly change, and that time isn't such a healer after all. The performances are nearly always excellent, with the two leads giving it all they've got in semi-spontaneous roles. Leigh's direction always keeps the viewer entertained and involved, and his usage of gorgeous colour to represent the change in eras is perfect; the usage of a blue tint for the 1980's scenes is a stroke of genius, and adds a suitably cold and harsh tone to the sequences. There's also plenty of humour in there too, including a wonderful series of scenes where our two girls pay a visit to a most peculiar apartment owner on the London Docklands. "Career Girls" is another absolute, utterly rewatchable gem from Mike Leigh, and, following on from such classics as "Naked," and, indeed, "Secrets and Lies," the only assumption I can make about the Stafford-born filmmaker is that if he isn't a true genius, he must be on the verge of being one!

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17 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Painfully insightful, 30 April 1999
Author: Andrew Howe (moonbeam130@hotmail.com) from Sydney, Australia

Career Girls is a film which garners my vote as one of the picks of 1997. Make no mistake - this is something special.

"What's it about, then?", I hear you cry. Well, lessee now - there's these two girls who used to live together at university who meet up for a weekend after six years. They wander around a bit, have coincidental meetings with a bunch of characters from their past (cue several extensive flashbacks) and then they part ways again. End of story.

It stars no one you've ever heard of. It probably cost less to make than Arnie alone was paid to appear in Batman and Robin. And, given that Mike Leigh (him of the harrowing Naked and the much-praised Secrets and Lies) is at the helm, you can bet that it packs more of a punch than Batdude could summon up if he'd spent a year having steroid daquiris injected into his jugular vein. Said body part being exactly what Leigh goes for, I might add.

This is a funny movie, but it won't have you rolling in the aisles or retelling scenes around the water cooler on Monday morning. It's a laughter born of desperation, the kind of bravery each of summons when, like Lucy Jordan, the day comes when we realise that we're never going to ride through Paris in that sportscar, when all we can do is grip ever tighter to whatever it is that gets us through the night and wonder what it's all been for. Sure it's depressing, but it's also somehow liberating to take stock and realise that we are not alone.

Leigh isn't making a movie, he's making a point, and that's fine and dandy if it comes in a package as fine as this one. Perhaps his greatest achievement is to make it painfully obvious that the two leads are not

really friends at all - they seem to have little in common, and at times appear quite uncomfortable in each other's presence. Each is simply a totem to the other, a reminder of the times that were, a living embodiment of the past which, in making itself known once more, serves to anchor it to the present. At times their differences are so acute that the act of viewing becomes almost painful, as if we are privy to something personal upon which we would prefer not to intrude.

This film is devoid of sentiment and positively brimming with pathos, but that's not to say that it doesn't have a heart. This film is about you, and it's about me, and it's about every screwed-up decision we've ever made and the people who fell along the way, and it's about the past we don't yearn for and the shysters we've encountered and the people who've used our love and the love we've been happy to give and hope and loss and heartbreak and determination. But most of all it's about maintaining, of pushing on in the face of adversity driven by nothing more than the hope of a better tomorrow.

We are not alone, friends, and this film proves it. Mark my words - not every gift of value comes in fancy packaging.

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14 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
adorable film, 20 August 2003

Author: CharlesFckinWidmore from home

I've seen a lot of Mike Leigh's films and while I know that Career Girls isn't considered by most critics his best film, I think it's his most touching (at least from the ones I have seen). Annie and Hannah were roomates in college for 4 years, after they graduated Annie returned to her hometown and now 6 years later she's visiting her old friend in London for the first time in those 6 years. Re-uniting with old friends is something that has happened to all of us and always brings back the most bittersweet memories. This is a beautiful film and I recommend it to everyone.

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
a pleasant surprise, 8 October 1998

Author: Willie-12 from United States

I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. It came on HBO the other night, and it was late so I was about to go to bed. I decided to just watch the beginning, but started to become quite interested in it. It turned out to be a pretty darn good little movie and I am glad I stayed up to watch it. Although it is a little different and a little slow, I thought it was a genuinely good movie with some very powerful performances. The characters are strong and the story is simple, but sweet.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Great combination!, 22 May 2004

Author: peterlefaucheur from Canada

The combination of Alison Steadman and the stunningly talented Katrin Cartlidge make for a very quirky but really down-to-earth film.

Although it was slated heavily for being OTT i think the characters are so true to life. We all must've known certain folk back in the early 80s who were of a similar character to those portrayed here.

Katrin Cartlidges' death is a HUGE loss. She was one of the most talented and beautiful actresses who fitted in so well when directed by Mike Leigh.

If you fond of films containing humorous British nostalgia and are fed up with the false, glitzy, Hollywood -influenced exterior that seems to be the winning trade mark these days, then this is the sort of film for you.

Let's see more films about REAL life, warts and all, (like this one) for a change!

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
One of Mike Leigh's more easy-going efforts, 15 August 2002

Author: PayOrPlay from Los Angeles

This is one of Mike Leigh's more easy-going efforts, overall, a bit mannered, sort of an urban picaresque, "Naked"-lite if you will. When I saw it on initial release, I liked it fine, but thought it would be memorable mainly for particular bits--the very funny scene with the obnoxious yuppie flat owner, the very powerful scenes with Mark Benton as Ricky--rather than for any coherence. I saw it again this week and it is sticking in my mind with more impact than before; to me it now resonates as a meditation on the need to get on with one's life, and the costs (in friendship, soulfulness, caring) of doing so, and the tragedy of those who just can't make the jump. Not one of Leigh's greatest films, but like everything he's made, well worth the time.

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9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Absorbing and Moving, 7 January 2003

Author: ian_harris from London, England

Yes, this film has been panned by many, but in my view Mike Leigh was near top form again with this absorbing and moving film. The late, great Katrin Cartlidge puts in an excellent performance. Dreadfully sorry to learn that such a talented young stage and screen actress has died. Lynda Steadman is also superb.

The film is partly in flashback to college days in the 1980s and partly set in the "present" of the 1990s. I see the exaggerated twitching and accents of the characters in the 1980s scenes as part of the flashback genre. Perhaps I went to University with exceptionally twitchy people, or perhaps the memory pitches college-days memories at 30 frames-per-second, but my own "flashbacks" to such times feel a bit like that. I thought it was intriguing cinematography, but the majority seems to be against me.

Where the film does grate a little is in the coincidences that lead them to run in to their past several times. Two of the coincidences are necessary for the plot and interest. One seems like "a coincidence too many" and it goes nowhere - maybe there was an intended plot thread that got dropped - well the coincidence should also have been dropped in that case.

It's a short film and it held our attention from start to finish. Not Mike Leigh's very best film, but well worth seeing.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A bittersweet, funny tale of friendship, 23 May 2001
Author: Mattydee74 from Sydney, Australia

Mike Leigh's often improvised, raw films can be off-putting if you're unprepared. He has a real nack for finding performers who put their full souls into his films and the style of the acting in this film explodes with a vibrant, distinctive energy. A slice-of-life tale of two college friends who meet up years later and find coincidence and fate entwine in quite unpredictable ways, the film is all about the tensions beneath the surfaces and those things that so often go unsaid. Its a love story between friends much like "Muriels Wedding" and again without a sexual component. The two women undertake an exterior and interior journey and learn about the love that friendship quietly evolves. Cartlidge and Steadman are unique performers and the beautiful music score is by "Secrets and Lies" actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Absolutely enjoyable! Funny and moving., 20 May 2004
Author: chris from Los Angeles, CA

Having caught a glimpse of Leigh's "High Hopes" on television a few years back, I remember how the simplistic, unpretentious, subtle hilariousness and dramatic realism stuck with me. I then caught "All or Nothing" on IFC and immediately noticed the similarities in style between these two films. Then I rented "Career Girls" and so far Mike Leigh is 3 for 3 with me. I intend to watch all of his films. These movies are not for the easily distracted as they tend to move at a very slow pace and plots are not the main focus of the filmaking. However, the characters are all wonderfully portrayed and the acting is remarkable. Career Girls is no exception. Often hilarious, this movie also touches the heartstrings but in a very careful manner. (Unlike Love Actually, a British film that is as contrived as it is sickeningly patronizing in it's presumption that anyone would find it remotely watchable).

I look forward to watching Leigh's "Secrets and Lies" next!

9 out of 10

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Reaches deep into your heart., 13 April 1999
Author: Doctor_Bombay from Lucas Buck, NC

When I saw Mike Leigh's Naked, the first time, one word, genius, never left my mind. I still think it is one of the most intelligent pieces of filmmaking I have ever seen.

About 180 degrees away in its subject matter, Career Girls affects me even more strongly. The idea that a couple of college girl-chums might get together after a few odd years, is nothing new. The film effectively puts their relationship under a microscope, in two drastically different times of maturation, the college years, and the 10 or so years after. Under that scrutiny each will blossom, brilliantly, through the short span of the film, much like a rose blooms in time-lapse photography. It's a helluva notion. Leigh accomplishes it all brilliantly.

We have all seen buddy pictures, and Career Girls is no 48 Hours, or Lethal Weapon. It's a truly sensitive look into the human soul, the human heart portraying a friendship we only imagine.

This film literally leaves me breathless.

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