This was one of those viewings that was a happy accident; surfing to find something to watch (I don’t know why, really; I have an absurd number of programmes on my ‘to watch’ list) I tumbled into it and it held me - easily. Its a very British film in its mix of the comedy of embarrassment with a good touch of harsh cynicism leavened with a variety of humour.
The cast is very accomplished and there is a good and satisfying dramatic arc as to what happens with the lives and relationships of the characters that, I for one, grew to care about and be involved with; something of a prerequisite for enjoying a film I think.
There is nothing special cinematically about it; it ‘does what it says on the tin’ in telling the story effectively and quite simply without feeling the need to make dramatic stylistic points for their own sake. It gave a fine snapshot of certain types of lives in quite particular suburban/semi-rural environments so there was much that was familiar - sometimes wincingly so.