Life Is Sweet is a 1990 British comedy-drama film directed by Mike Leigh, starring Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks and Timothy Spall.

On a hot summer weekend lunchtime, Andy (a senior chef in a large London catering facility) impulsively buys a dilapidated fast-food van touted by a disreputable acquaintance, Patsy, who has unexpectedly called at his home.

Meanwhile, Aubrey (Timothy Spall) – a hyperactive but emotionally labile family friend – is opening a Parisian-themed restaurant named The Regret Rien.

Wendy accepts a part-time job as waitress in the restaurant, but her and Andy's initial confidence in the scheme is undermined by Aubrey's unorthodox approach to the interior décor (a cluttered, half-realised combination of outmoded French clichés, such as a bicycle in the bay window, and of tasteless Victoriana, such as a stuffed cat's head framed by broken accordion sconces) and by his menu.

His singularly grotesque interpretation of the excesses of nouvelle cuisine includes dishes such as saveloy on a bed of lychees, liver in lager and pork cyst.

It appears that Nicola only can be aroused by a combination of light bondage and the consumption of chocolate spread from her chest – a practice to which he only reluctantly agrees.

Trying to engage and understand her, he ultimately loses patience with her combative attitude, concluding she is "a bit vacant" and incapable of having a sincere, adult conversation or allowing herself to enjoy his companionship.

Wendy gets him back inside, where Aubrey blubbers that he fancies her, starts to undress and passes out: "a quivering, sobbing gelatinous blob of disappointment".

Phlegmatic and dry-humoured Natalie enjoys her unconventional work as a plumber, the simple pleasures of a pint and a game of pool, and dreams of visiting the US.

The film was shot entirely on location in Enfield, UK and used local people as extras, including an Enfield-based dance school for the opening title sequence.

She also found the old mobile snack-bar, which Rea's Patsy sells on to Broadbent's Andy as a pig in a poke in Northampton and painted it.

[8] Life is Sweet's bright, primary-coloured production design contrasted with that of Leigh's next film, Naked, which was conceived in blacks and blues and a 'dark, dilapidated grunginess'.

[16] David Sexton in the Times Literary Supplement was critical, however, and wrote that "the film never transcends sitcom and remains static and anecdotal, its unit the scene, not the complete story."

The Noël Coward/David Lean film This Happy Breed, evoked by Leigh in several panning shots across suburban back gardens, is patronising.

In his first appearance in the movie, Aubrey wears a San Francisco Giants Starter jacket while visiting the family's home.

[27] Life Is Sweet initially was released on VHS format in the United Kingdom following its theatrical showing, with two subsequent re-releases in 1993 and 2000.