beresfordjd I recorded this because Maxine Peake was in it and was so glad I did. It is a well written and plotted piece of work which was constantly surprising us by it's twists and turns. The cast is small but excellent and it is gripping to the even more surprising end. Maxine Peake is one of Britains best actresses and I have yet to see her in anything less than excellent.

jimbo-53-186511 Charlotte (Maxine Peake) has devoted her life to her career and is disgusted when she discovers that she has been passed up for promotion. As a result of this she quits her job on the grounds of constructive dismissal. When she arrives home, she vents her anger out on her cleaner Maya whom Charlotte catches smoking in her apartment (despite Charlotte giving Maya a previous warning about not smoking in her apartment). Following an altercation between Charlotte and Maya, Charlotte's life takes a darker turn setting off a chain reaction of events that see her life spiralling out of control.In the main Keeping Rosy is a pretty decent film - it has a sense of foreboding tension that makes it the sort of film that you don't want to take your eyes away from. That being said it is a film that does require some suspension of disbelief in order to be able to truly enjoy it - such as Charlotte managing to drag her cleaner's body in a sleeping bag out of her apartment, into a lift and out into the car park without anyone seeing? Possible? Yes... Likely? No. It seemed strange that you never really saw anyone in the apartments where Charlotte lived and yet the car park was always full of vehicles? It also seemed strange that Charlotte seemed to forget that her apartment complex had CCTV cameras and was only reminded of this when her sister saw her drop a box on her way into the apartment. Even if you never look at your CCTV cameras you'll know they are there as there are always signs telling you that there are CCTV cameras in areas where they are installed so it seemed unlikely that she would forget that the cameras were there. Anyway these are minor gripes and don't take away from the tension that exists on screen.The film bogs down a little in the middle of the film when essentially we're just seeing Charlotte looking after her dead cleaner's child. If I'm honest not much happens in this section and whilst it's presumably included as an insight into Charlotte trying to cope with looking after someone other than herself it did slow the picture down somewhat and much of it felt a little unnecessary.The film picks up again in the second half when Charlotte's sister Sarah (Christine Bottomley) comes to visit her and she brings home Roger (Blake Harrison) who happens to be the guy who works for the company that monitor the CCTV cameras. The story takes a predictable turn when Roger blackmails Charlotte by telling her he'll destroy the CCTV evidence of her committing the crime if Charlotte pays him £30,000. Despite the predictable turn of events here the picture still held my interest, but this is mainly thanks to a terrific turn from Blake Harrison. To be honest I've only ever seen him as Neil in The Inbetweeners and to see him play a character that at once is helpful and genuine to a callous opportunist that is prepared to cover up a crime for his own financial gain is a showcase of his talents. He was quite terrifying at times and for the most part made me forget about the wobbly screenplay. The likes of Christine Bottomley and Maxine Peake were also good, but it's Blake Harrison that was the real surprise and it was his performance I remembered the most when the film ended.The end of the film is probably another one of those that may divide audiences. On the one hand you could look at it as being a bit of a cop-out and a lazy way to end the film. On the other hand you could look at as both Charlotte and Roger getting what they deserved as neither of them did the right thing in the first place. I can see arguments for both answers, but I think what lets the film down slightly is the lazy way it left so many loose ends untied and for that reason I'm more inclined to go with the first answer.On the whole, and despite the questionable ending and some questionable aspects within the plot I did enjoy this film. It grinds a bit in the middle, but the simmering tension in the second half and the strong performances from the cast make it worth the effort.

Prismark10 Maxine Peake is a go getting but brittle career woman who is severely put out when she is passed over a promotion. When she goes back to her flat she takes her frustrations out on her Polish cleaner and accidentally kills her with her champagne bottle but then discovers the cleaning lady's baby in the car.As she tries to cover her tracks and get rid of the body she realises that she might had got caught on CCTV. This is when a slimy security guard enters her life demanding money from her with menace.This is a doom laden film with plenty of London Docklands location shooting, many unlikeable characters, little plausibility and plot contrivances. This low budget movie comes across more as a gritty television film.Peake mellows as she cares for the baby and becomes attached to it and in the end she will do anything to keep the baby safe.

ChrisKessler I'll just start by saying that this movie is not for the average viewer, and if you are the superficial type, always in search of a simple and comfortable state of mind, then this movie is probably not for you. A certain depth is required to understand that this is real life, and real life is not the one that the every day irresponsible or the ignorant happy-go-lucky type believes it to be.Without giving away any specific details, it's a moving and intense story with well developed characters. It's also an atmospheric experience, dark and sad, but real and, quite frankly, I am surprised it got such a low score. Most probably people don't get this movie and then there are those who get it and are so terrified of the clarity with which this movie paints the horrible way life can spin out of control that they rate it low.Make no mistake, this movie is good and it is clearly underrated. It delivers what it promises and it does so beautifully. Life is more often like this than the ignorant bliss people want it to be. My views may be seen as somewhat cynical. If that's the label some people put on seeing reality for what it is, then I'll take pride in being labeled as such and being taken away by good movies like this one from idiocy painted in pretty pictures.I highly recommend it and I'm sure this one will stay with me.