Surely one of the most intentionally depressing "comedies" ever made; Rita, Sue And Bob Too is a film that not only divides audience opinion but personal opinion too. Few films force the individual viewer to question their own feelings as much as this one. Should we laugh along with the characters? Should we pity them? Should we love them or loathe them? Should we even care? The strength of the film is that it never lectures us, never moralises, and never tells us what conclusions to draw
we are left to react however we will, and many viewers down the years have struggled to decide whether they like the film or hate it.
Thirty-something married man Bob (George Costigan) leads a seemingly comfortable existence in a smart newly built house on a quiet residential estate. His wife Michelle (Lesley Sharp) is a typical glamour-puss, more interested in appearances than what's beneath her immaculate make-up and expensive clothing. Bob and Michelle ask a pair of local teenage girls, Rita (Siobhan Finneran) and Sue (Michelle Holmes) – both residents on a rough 'n' tumble nearby council estate – to babysit for them while they go out. While taking the girls home later that evening, Bob drives them up onto the moors and persuades them both to have sex with him. His marriage – especially his sex life – is already on the rocks and Bob is desperate to exploit whatever opportunities he can. Soon their sexual liaisons become a regular thing and it isn't long before Michelle finds out what Bob is up to (not for the first time too, it transpires). The rest of the film deals with the collapse of Bob's marriage and his ever-unpredictable relationship with Rita and Sue.
Directed by TV veteran Alan Clarke, Rita, Sue And Bob Too should be applauded for not taking the easy way out. Clarke's film looks right into the jaws of squalid working class existence and doesn't attempt to prettify it in the slightest. If this makes you uneasy, Clarke says, then that's your problem. Turn off the TV and go back to something cosier. The performances are generally honest and true - Costigan is outstanding as the philandering husband, Sharp wonderfully convincing as his wife, while Holmes and Finneran bring a spirited sauciness to the roles of Rita and Sue. They're not likable characters but they are admirable as survivors of a harsh upbringing. Sue's father, an abusive drunk and foul-mouthed loser, is played with frightening conviction by Willie Ross. The scenes of sex and domestic abuse make for uneasy viewing, while certain aspects of the film come across as rather dated. Also many viewers might feel that Bob should get some sort of come-uppance at the end of the film, although in fairness he is himself exploited by Rita and Sue just as much as he exploits them. The film defiantly refuses to be judgmental and avoids any kind of hopeful ending in which the characters have learned some kind of life lesson. It's important to come to the film understanding that the whole point is to spend 93 minutes experiencing what life is like in someone else's shoes. It's not about liking or disliking what you see, nor whether this way of life is normal or completely alien to you. It's just about experiencing this short but turbulent period of Rita, Sue and Bob's existence. It's impossible to recommend the film as an entertaining experience (it's most definitely not a laugh-a-minute raunchy comedy) but it remains one of the most notable films of working class life to come out of Yorkshire in the '80s and, as such, deserves a look.
Thirty-something married man Bob (George Costigan) leads a seemingly comfortable existence in a smart newly built house on a quiet residential estate. His wife Michelle (Lesley Sharp) is a typical glamour-puss, more interested in appearances than what's beneath her immaculate make-up and expensive clothing. Bob and Michelle ask a pair of local teenage girls, Rita (Siobhan Finneran) and Sue (Michelle Holmes) – both residents on a rough 'n' tumble nearby council estate – to babysit for them while they go out. While taking the girls home later that evening, Bob drives them up onto the moors and persuades them both to have sex with him. His marriage – especially his sex life – is already on the rocks and Bob is desperate to exploit whatever opportunities he can. Soon their sexual liaisons become a regular thing and it isn't long before Michelle finds out what Bob is up to (not for the first time too, it transpires). The rest of the film deals with the collapse of Bob's marriage and his ever-unpredictable relationship with Rita and Sue.
Directed by TV veteran Alan Clarke, Rita, Sue And Bob Too should be applauded for not taking the easy way out. Clarke's film looks right into the jaws of squalid working class existence and doesn't attempt to prettify it in the slightest. If this makes you uneasy, Clarke says, then that's your problem. Turn off the TV and go back to something cosier. The performances are generally honest and true - Costigan is outstanding as the philandering husband, Sharp wonderfully convincing as his wife, while Holmes and Finneran bring a spirited sauciness to the roles of Rita and Sue. They're not likable characters but they are admirable as survivors of a harsh upbringing. Sue's father, an abusive drunk and foul-mouthed loser, is played with frightening conviction by Willie Ross. The scenes of sex and domestic abuse make for uneasy viewing, while certain aspects of the film come across as rather dated. Also many viewers might feel that Bob should get some sort of come-uppance at the end of the film, although in fairness he is himself exploited by Rita and Sue just as much as he exploits them. The film defiantly refuses to be judgmental and avoids any kind of hopeful ending in which the characters have learned some kind of life lesson. It's important to come to the film understanding that the whole point is to spend 93 minutes experiencing what life is like in someone else's shoes. It's not about liking or disliking what you see, nor whether this way of life is normal or completely alien to you. It's just about experiencing this short but turbulent period of Rita, Sue and Bob's existence. It's impossible to recommend the film as an entertaining experience (it's most definitely not a laugh-a-minute raunchy comedy) but it remains one of the most notable films of working class life to come out of Yorkshire in the '80s and, as such, deserves a look.