Customer Reviews

Happy-Go-Lucky

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This is all about Poppy, played by Sally Hawkins. Single in London. Positive, cheerful, and generally embodies the title of the movie. Every situation is to be faced with good spirit, a light attitude, and cheer.

At the beginning it seems that she will overrun a challenge like a tank running over a building in a WW II flick. Smiles. Banter. Humor. Irrepressible. Even when alone.

The challenges grow. A problem student. A vagrant in a deserted part of town. A doctor visit. A dance instructor with issues.

And then the new champion for Driving Instructor From Satan, played by Eddie Marsan. These scenes are classics. As in many movies confrontation is important to good comedy or drama. The theater I saw this in was laughing its collective heads off. The driving lessons make me smile even as I type this.

How Poppy reacts to each challenge - and how others react to Poppy - is the core of this movie. The plot is mostly a string of episodes. Mike Leigh does an outstanding job directing, finding a second level to each situation. Funny and happy. But also thoughtful and a little gritty.

Sally Hawkins should be up for an Oscar in 2009, but that is a whole other discussion.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY is one of those quirky British films that won't be remembered as one of the best you've ever seen, but is worth a look and four stars because, as I said to my wife after our advance screening, it "has its 5-star moments".

The protagonist is Poppy (Sally Hawkins), a frenetically happy, 30-year old, primary school teacher living in London's northern reaches with her roommate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman). Poppy's good humor is so inexorable that, while it serves her well with her young charges, it often abrades the patience of adults. Only Zoe is imperturbable.

As with other films of the genre (Local Hero, The Full Monty, Calendar Girls, Waking Ned Devine), the plot revolves not so much around events as the personalities and eccentricities of the players.

The single best overall performance is perhaps that by Eddie Marsan as the scarily intense Scott, Poppy's driving instructor, whose deep-seated, smoldering anger at the world reflects a tightly wound mental state 180 degrees opposite that of his student. Confined together in the small space of Scott's car, an explosion seems always but a hair-trigger's pull away.

Definitely, the single best scene, the one that had the audience in stitches, is played by Karina Fernandez as a Flamenco teacher, when she attempts to describe to and inculcate in her class of adult students the passion necessary for the dance. Talk about meltdown!

The conflict, if it can be called such, of the story comes as Poppy's happy-go-luckiness scrapes up against the unhappy lives and internal turmoil of others: the mentally unstable derelict she encounters under a bridge in a bleak industrial section of the city, her pregnant and subliminally unhappy younger sister, a bullying and disturbed boy in her class, and, above all, Scott. As the last scene fades into the film credits, the viewer is left wondering if Poppy's felicitous worldview will survive life. One suspects it will.

Happy-Go-Lucky stars Sally Hawkins as Poppy, a 30 year old London elementary school teacher who is so cheerful she makes Pollyanna look like Eeyore.

The film doesn't follow any Hollywood formula, so here is fair advance warning. You may not like "Happy-Go-Lucky" if:
1. You dislike "British Humor".
2. You have difficulty following non-American English.
3. You dislike films without a definite or obvious "plot".

There is a decidedly British genre that I would loosely describe as "get a handful of interesting characters together and follow them a few days". (I recently watched "The Station Agent" and although the characters and setting were different, it shares this genre.)

Poppy isn't just cheerful. She finds almost any situation a suitable one for a joke and a laugh. In the opening she rides her bicycle to a bookstore where she tries unsuccessfully to get the attention of the bearded young man who works there. She goes outside to discover her bicycle has been stolen. She is disappointed and says "I didn't even get to say good-bye!"

The stolen bike leads Poppy to decide to take driving lessons. She hires the increasingly serious and severely humorless Scott, played by Eddie Marsan. Some of the funniest scenes in the film and certainly the most serious one take place during Poppy's driving lessons.

Poppy has shared a flat with Zoe for ten years, and she has two younger sisters who don't share her irrepressible cheery disposition.

I could give you the entire "plot" and although I wouldn't be giving you many "spoilers", I also wouldn't be giving you much encouragement to watch the movie.

The Mrs. and I laughed out loud several times. Go back to my short list of disqualifiers. If you're NOT disqualified, you might like it.

Watch this movie and think to yourself, "Who am I MOST like?" Poppy, the main character, or Scott (the driving instrutor)? Which one can you identify with the most? Now...Which one do you NOT want to be like? Or to become?

The main character if FULL OF JOY for living. What is the point of life if there is NO JOY??? Honestly, I keep reading these negative reviews and they're so superficial. Forgive me, but that's how I feel. Every scene and every character has a reason for being the way it is. Trust me on this one. Just open your minds. Please. And remember this...it's a M O V I E. Seriously. Some people need to lighten up and drop the BS. Mike Leigh wrote and directed one of his best films here, and all some people can say is, "The main character is so annoying". Wow. How sad. Once you have THAT in your head, the rest of the movie will not make any sense. Word.

Someones acceptance of this movie totally hinges on their tolerance of Sally Hawkins character. If you are charmed by goofy, never stop talking British eccentrics then you may like Happy Go Lucky.

If people who never shut up annoy you, people who will say anything just to be saying something, then this probably ain't the movie for you.

I was surprised because I'm a big Mike Leigh fan. Life is Sweet is an all time favorite and was far more off center and weird than Happy Go Lucky. It had plenty of weird characters that all became endearing and real by the end. I kept waiting for Hawkins character to become lovable the way the mom did in Life is Sweet, the way the bloviating Jim Broadbent did in Topsy-Turvy. Never happens. Happy Go Lucky by contrast is filled with a mix of either annoying characters (Hawkins, driving instructor, Flamenco instructor) or dull characters (co-workers, boyfriend, abused student, roommate).

Leigh's penchant for not working off of scripts goes wrong in this one and turns the movie into a bunch of patched together skits that do little to build a cohesive whole. It's telling that the best scene in the movie, her encounter with a homeless man, is the only time she has very little to say. Unfortunately, the scene is compromised because it is a totally forced situation. Just as in a slasher movie where people always do stupid things to get themselves killed, we are expected to accept that someone would actually walk down a dark alley in a bad neighborhood at night in hopes of making an interesting acquaintance. It reeks of plot device and undermines the scene.

The movie gets a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, Hawkins won a Golden Globe and universal acclaim. So obviously, I'm not seeing something everyone else did. You may want to rent it and judge for yourself...

Happy-Go-Lucky is a small British film that was one of the most acclaimed films of 2008. It didn't get any attention from the Academy, but was nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globes and star Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe for her performance as a perpetually happy school teacher named Poppy. As I will explain later, it wasn't her performance that most impressed me.

Written and directed by Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky stars Hawkins as Poppy, an elementary school teacher who is one of those people that is always happy. One of those people who are so happy it almost makes you angry. After stopping in a bookstore, Poppy's bike is stolen, leading her to take driving lessons. Her driving instructor Scott (Eddie Marsan), who is Poppy's polar opposite; humorless and straight-forward. The two don't get along very well, but when Poppy gets involved with a social worker she unexpectedly gets a jealous reaction from Scott.

I have to add that it's hard to think of Poppy as simply "happy" There are times when it seems like she might be slightly insane. Scott doesn't seem completely sane himself though.

The film does have a consistent British charm that makes it hard to stop smiling. It has the tone of a typical romantic-comedy, but it's more well-written than any of those films with more memorable characters as well.

The dialogue has its shining moments too. The banter between Scott and Poppy upon their initial meeting (and later ones) is fast-paced, brilliant, and hilarious. Scott is right when he says "you won't forget Enraha."

Ms. Hawkins has a sort of insatiable, spunky charm that is really delightful. She doesn't give any sort of tour de force performance but she's so perfect in the role. It's a relatively simple character, yet it seems like it must have been challenging.

Marsan is pitch-perfect as the no-nonsense, uptight instructor. It's Marsan I really want to talk about. He is just as impressive as Hawkins, if not more so. This is an actor that comes out of nowhere and totally nails this character, warts and all.

Through the entire film, I enjoyed his presence but didn't necessarily like his character. When he confronts Poppy in the film, I found myself instantly empathizing with him. It's really a perfect, Award-worthy performance. No reviews make much mention of Marsan, but he's the true breakthrough in this film.

I don't know about Happy-Go-Lucky being one of the best films of 2008, but it's a charming, somewhat sad film. It's worth recommending on the basis of its witty script and the performances of Marsan and Hawkins.

GRADE: B+

***1/2

If Debbie Downer were bi-polar, her opposite half might well be peppy "Poppy," a perpetually upbeat thirty-year-old elementary school teacher whom no vicissitude of life could ever hope to faze. Poppy seems utterly impervious to either hard times or bad news as she giggles and chortles her way around London, going to work, hanging out with her buddies, or taking driving lessons from a stuffy, humorless instructor who may be developing a more-than-professional interest in his client.

In terms of structure, Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" has an aimlessness and a formlessness that is both the movie's greatest asset and its most problematic weakness. This approach does make the story feel less contrived and more realistic, but it also robs the movie of some of the cohesion, drama and emotional power it might have had had it been more formally designed.

In a similar way, Sally Hawkins has been assigned the extraordinarily challenging task of bringing an aura of likeability to a character who, if you met her in real life, would probably drive you straight over the edge after a mere five minutes in her presence. Luckily, Hawkins is largely successful in toning down at least some of Poppy`s more egregiously irritating mannerisms, and in the rare moments when the character is allowed to actually behave like an honest-to-God grownup woman, Hawkins wins us over completely. Eddie Marsan also scores big as the rage-filled, uptight driving instructor who, in a wonderfully explosive scene that is the verbal equivalent of a slap in the face, finally confronts Poppy with a few unattractive truths about herself.

It's nice to come across a character who isn't all depressed and angst-ridden about life for a change, and Poppy certainly seems to have found a niche in the world that works for her. That's a rare enough thing in movies these days to make "Happy-Go-Lucky," flaws and all, worth checking out.

I was rather disappointed in the movie overall. The bits and pieces that are used to create the movie trailer were in fact the best parts of the film. Sadly, there was so much potential to make this movie into something magnificent, but it just faltered. I would have thought it would have been better to see someone in their early 20's with Poppy's attitude. When I learn that she is now 30 and acting so immature, it really makes the film less credible. I would highly recommend folks rent the movie before buying this. It was not the best $20 investment that I ever made.

No this is not deep cinema, no it's not an action film, no it's not a jiggle film, no...it's not a lot of things. What Happy Go Lucky is, a wonderful small film that just makes a person feel good. It stands proudly and says, there is good in people everywhere, it just depends on how you look at them. And this film just made this reviewer feel good at the end.

The flim opens with credits rolling and Poppy, the central character of the film, riding her bicycle around a city in England. The director chose to use an older 60's / 70's technique of moving a rectangular box around the screen and placing the credits in the black space.

Poppy parks her bicycle on the street, goes inside a book store. At this moment it is clear, Poppy looks at life differently from most people. It is driven home when she walks out of the store to find her bicycle stolen. She stands for a few seconds, and she says, "oh shoot, I didn't even get to say goodbye to you." Obviously, Poppy's view of the world is different, and maybe very healthy.

The fear of this moment in the film, where a character reacts in a quirky happy manner, is that they will be a Pollyanna, or they are insane. Mike Leigh, the director and writer, toed a very difficult line in making Poppy at once loveable and happy, but not overboard. Poppy doesn't walk around smiling vapidly everywhere. She gets genuinuely upset at certain things, cares deeply about what happnes around her, but then can smile at the good that comes out of an unfortunate event. Poppy remains somebody that everyone would love to have around.

Frankly, describing more of the story would simply harm the lovely discovery of this film. Getting to know Poppy, Zoey, Poppy's two sisters, Scot the driving instructor, the Flaminco dance instructor... all the characters, is the best part of this film.

Remember, this is a small film. It probably had a very low budget, filmed on the inexpensive side of movies. It is not a GREAT film. There are some pacing issues here and there. Shots aren't always in perfect focus. But where production and film style matter, Mike Leigh brings it on. The shots in the car, a virtually impossible place to shoot film, are remarkable. The close ups as each actor speaks are for film school study. The music is a bit over the top most of the time. The strings and orchestra overemphasize some parts of the film. However, the sound in the very last scene is incredible, and there music is used to perfection.

If you want a film that will make you happy, will make you feel good when it is over - Happy Go Lucky is perfection.

The film is could have been PG, it is just oh so close (darn MPAA). But one of the most important scenes near the end of the the film, there is some very strong language that lasts for not even 30 seconds. There is an incredibly sensuous scene, but with absolutely no nudity. Frankly, that scene has to be one of the best romantic scenes the reviewer has seen in a very long time. There is absolutely no violence of any kind. Honestly, if it weren't for those inane MPAA rules about the F bomb (more than two), this film would be PG-13.

The DVD is presented with a few previews and no bonus features. The transfer is magnificant.

Mike Leigh has changed in recent years, his stories are now more natural and more subtle. Happy Go Lucky, apart from having a great performance from Sally Hawkins does not tell you what to think. Has you thinking long after the film is over. And it's such a fun film too!