Review of Career Girls

It gets better with every scene. What starts as an odd mixture between Gilliam and Hallmark, eventually finds a structural rhythm with the development of each of the separate narrative timelines. It isn't among Leigh's most arresting or emotionally complex films, but it certainly still grabs the kit and puts you in stitches. The chemistry between Hannah and Annie creates a synchronization of infectious energy. But it's the undercurrent of sadness teeming throughout the film that evokes the strongest sense of pathos. Leigh is remarkable in his ability to illustrate characters who laugh so that they won't cry, and this emotional paradox is what gives the film its edge.

Overall, it's a modest Mike Leigh effort, though his thesis that people could be happy if not for the staggering weight of their emotional baggage culminates in a very strong way at the end, with the recurrence of Ricky, who's course of life has lead him down a spiral of shame and confusion. The antecedent flashback shows that the previous interaction between him and the girls had resulted in contention and a total severance of their relationship. Ricky, the big loaf, shouting pained and pernicious utterances as he lumbers away, is a needle to the heart, as we realize that his misplaced bitterness will permanently prevent him from obtaining the only thing he truly seeks, acceptance.