35 Up

Given the voyeuristic turn that television programming has taken in the last dozen or so years, with talk shows which told viewers much more than they wanted to know about total strangers, and then with so-called reality shows which set up ridiculous competitions as a means of bringing out the worst (and sometimes the best) in people, Michael Apted's TV series, which began with 7 Up, is beginning to look awfully quaint. And that may be its real virtue; Apted isn't interested in anything more than allowing individuals to record and reflect on the progress of their lives. He doesn't produce past lovers from behind a curtain or encourage his interviewees to gloat over the problems of others in the series. In their mid-'30s, these people inevitably bring up the subject of ambitions fulfilled and unfulfilled, and because most of the subjects' goals were modest to being with, their disappointments are also relatively small. Neil is the film's certifiably troubled person, but Apted is admirably discreet about his problems, allowing the young man to explain rather than justify or excuse himself. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide