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1995, Movie, NR, 88 mins

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"In sickness and in health" sounds great when everyone's in the pink, but the onset of illness puts everything into a very different perspective. And that, in a nutshell, is what this brisk, unsentimental romantic drama is about: How lovers Nick (Robert Carlyle) and Karen (Juliet Aubrey) reconfigure their ideas about life together when Nick develops multiple sclerosis. An extroverted Scot with a gaggle of vulgar soccer buddies and a job as a plasterer, Nick coasts through life with a kind of cheerful pragmatism: He may not be the richest or the handsomest or the smartest guy in the world, but he's getting by just fine so he doesn't sweat the small stuff. Truth be told, though, he'd like to settle down, and Karen allows him to think about that in practical terms. They move in together, weather some minor squabbles and seem to be settling into a mutually rewarding life. Then the symptoms begin, eating away at Nick's physical and mental health. Double vision that requires glasses; numbness that comes and goes without warning, threatening Nick's job and the freedom afforded by being able to drive; humiliating incontinence. Only Nick is physically ill, but both their lives are informed by illness and the issues of dependence and responsibility that intrude when one partner remains able-bodied and the other becomes progressively disabled. The film's greatest asset is screenwriter Paul Henry Powell, who developed MS in 1988 and draws deeply on his own experiences facing a miserable situation and then moving on with his life. Nick is neither a sad case nor a super-cripple: He's just a regular guy who gets on with it because really, what's his alternative? The performances are fine all around, and though Michael Winterbottom's direction includes some gimmicky touches, it's admirably pragmatic. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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