"Rather than pontificating on the ideological implications of the average worker’s plight, Leigh’s films dramatize the efficacy of socialism through stories of communities learning to support each other (or of the tragedy of individuals cast adrift). Leigh’s working method also emphasizes group effort; he develops scripts with his cast in an improvisational atmosphere before setting the dialogue down in stone (a technique that also helps the sense of realism)… Leigh’s use of family dynamics makes it easy for most viewers to sympathize with the characters, even when they display unlikable qualities. Combining such dynamics with moments of laughter and tears, Leigh’s films use emotion rather than rhetoric to portray the lives of the working class." - Sean Griffin, Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film