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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
15 | | Cast
Sally Hawkins
Eddie Marsan
Alexis Zegerman
Andrea Riseborough
Samuel Roukin. | | Directors
Mike Leigh. | | Screenwriters
Mike Leigh. | | Running Time
118 minutes |
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Happy-Go-Lucky (15) Plot
Poppy (Hawkins) is a London primary school teacher. After her bike is stolen she gets driving lessons, but her teacher, Scott (Marsan), turns out to be a bit of a nut. She begins learning flamenco. One of the kids in her class has problems at home. And all the while, she barely stops smiling…Review
It is a fairly common misconception that crying on demand is one of the hardest things an actor can do. It’s not. Sneezing convincingly, for example, is tougher. As is laughing. And by that we mean proper laughing - laughing with your eyes, to paraphrase Roald Dahl, rather than with your mouth. In this sense, Mike Leigh regular Sally Hawkins delivers a remarkable performance as Poppy, a woman who greets every situation with a smile, a joke and a guffaw, as if she’s hooked on nitrous oxide.
Towards the end of the film, her flatmate advises her, “You can’t make everyone ’appy all the time,” to which she replies, “Yeah, but there’s no ’arm in tryin’.” Some would disagree, and that’s the driving dynamic of Leigh’s latest film: in an insular, insecure urban society, what do we make of someone like Poppy? She certainly challenges the assumptions of those who encounter her, from a snooty bookshop clerk to unhinged driving instructor Scott (Eddie Marsan), to us, the audience. She’s not stupid, she’s not naive, she’s not even self-deceptive - we uncover no dark soul broiling beneath the gleaming smile and dizzy mannerisms. You spend the movie half-expecting Leigh to punish her for her persistent frivolity, yet while his dramatic constructions certainly test Poppy’s bounce (including one unnecessary extended scene where she encounters a mad tramp), it’s less a case of the world trying to grind her down than her trying, for want of a better phrase, to grind the world up. This is most evident in the driving lesson episodes, with Marsan’s invective-spitting misanthrope set up as the hate-mongering yang to Poppy’s mirthful ying. Here, Marsan - who must be tiring of playing misfits - comes close to unbalancing the film, Scott’s beetroot-faced rants tainting the naturalism somewhat.
Still, those who only know Leigh by his (unfair) reputation as a miserablist might be surprised to find that ultimately, Happy-Go-Lucky is a genuine feelgood film. There’s a good chance that you’ll wish you could face all life’s tribulations Poppy-style. You might even be tempted to give it a go — after all, there’s no ’arm in tryin’. Verdict
Mike Leigh draws a bravura performance out of Sally Hawkins, and she in return makes Poppy one of Leigh’s best characters yet - up there with the likes of Vera Drake or Beverly from Abigail’s Party.
Reviewer: Dan Jolin
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Average user rating for Happy-Go-Lucky
| | | It’s often tough-goings, especially during (LOUD) exchanges between Poppy and her entourage, and the former varies drastically from inspiring to mind-numbingly irritating. Still, the script is charming (most of the time) and Hawkins is excellent. Also, it’s worth seeing for her and Marsan’s scenes alone. ... Read More
| | | Romarth About me | | 12:48, 29 March 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | | | | The best British film of last year? Quite possibly... ... Read More
| | | shawshank prisoner About me | | 00:45, 07 February 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | | | | Mike Leight hate emo-like-people. I with you, Mike! ... Read More
| | | ARmy2510 About me | | 02:16, 04 January 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Happy Go Lucky | | | a likeable enough film ,but the main character Poppy can be very annoying at times ... Read More
| | | moviemaniac2 About me | | 21:44, 23 November 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Cute but I dont get the big hipe about it! | | | Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a crazy primary school teacher, living in London. She and her housemate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman) are always out for a drink, whistling after some guys, and are definitely, at all times, up for a laugh.
The film doesn’t really have a story; it’s more a random period in Poppy’s life. She takes driving lessons with a very grumpy and possibly mentally unbalanced driving instructor (Eddie Marsan) who ends up falling in ... Read More
| | | TheMovieNess About me | | 10:55, 01 November 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | One of the most annoying films I have ever seen. | | | I was ridiculously disappointed with this film after so many positive reviews and personal recommendations to see it. I cannot believe how irritating ‘Poppy’ is and feel that the performance was excruciatingly contrived and the characters poorly developed. Leigh’s relentless quest to charm the audience with Poppy's quirky and wacky exploits even led me to begin to root for the stereotype racist religious nut ‘Scottâ&... Read More
| | | thomas101 About me | | 23:43, 27 October 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | One of the most annoying films I have ever seen. | | | I was ridiculously disappointed with this film after so many positive reviews and personal recommendations to see it. I cannot believe how irritating 'Poppy' is and feel that the performance was excruciatingly contrived and the characters poorly developed. Leigh's relentless quest to charm the audience with Poppy's quirky and wacky exploits even led me to begin to root for the stereotype racist religious nut 'Scott'. Shame they didn't crash the car/ drown in the boat. I barely survived watchi... Read More
| | | thomas101 About me | | 23:41, 27 October 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Happy-Go-Lucky | | igh and Sally Hawkins Discuss o-Lucky from CityNews.ca ted by bamcatfilms) ... Read More
| | | Mason Verger About me | | 17:11, 15 September 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | I really love Mike Leigh | | | But I couldn't stand this film. I found the character of Poppy so annoying I actually had difficulty staying in my seat. If I had met someone in real life that was like her I probably would have murdered them. I'll stick to Leigh's miserable films... ... Read More
| | | missphoenix About me | | 13:11, 14 May 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Happy-Go-Lucky | | I enjoyed it, but it's not a particularly memorable film. Poppy is maybe a bit happy-go-lucky, at times she comes across as a female Colin Hunt, such is her determination to put on a happy face regardless of what is going on and be wacky, and some scenes stretch credibility a little bit too far (exactly why did she feel compelled to go and see what the mad tramp was up to, let alone sit and try and have a conversation with him).
Plotwise theres not a lot going on, basically and (the... Read More
| | | Indio About me | | 22:27, 29 April 2008 | Report This Post | |
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