Happy-Go-Lucky (0000) Movie Information:
| Happy-Go-Lucky (0000) Directed by: |
 Mike Leigh |
| Happy-Go-Lucky (0000) Written by: |
| Mike Leigh |
| Happy-Go-Lucky (0000) Cast: |
| Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman, Samuel Roukin, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Kate O'Flynn, Caroline Martin, Oliver Maltman, Karina Fernandez, Sarah Niles, Nonso Anozie, Stanley Townsend |
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Happy-Go-Lucky (0000) Synopsis:
Poppy (Hawkins) is an eternal optimist, laughing at everything life throws at her. She lives in North London with her long-time buddy Zoe (Zegerman) and funnels her internal energy and humour into teaching primary students. The odd thing is that she never switches it off, even when she's taking lessons from a surly driving instructor (a wonderfully against-type Marsan), learning flamenco dancing or having physiotherapy. But her bouncy behaviour is strangely endearing to everyone around her--friends, sisters (O'Flynn and Martin), boss (La Touzel), and especially a sexy social worker (Roukin).
Happy-Go-Lucky (0000) Movie Review:
With his trademark light-handed touch, Leigh switches gears (again) to tell story that feels strangely slight. But it's also very funny and, despite the lack of a central plot, finds surprising truth in its characters.
Poppy (Hawkins) is an eternal optimist, laughing at everything life throws at her. She lives in North London with her long-time buddy Zoe (Zegerman) and funnels her internal energy and humour into teaching primary students. The odd thing is that she never switches it off, even when she's taking lessons from a surly driving instructor (a wonderfully against-type Marsan), learning flamenco dancing or having physiotherapy. But her bouncy behaviour is strangely endearing to everyone around her--friends, sisters (O'Flynn and Martin), boss (La Touzel), and especially a sexy social worker (Roukin).
It's intriguing to see Leigh playing with cheerfulness just as adeptly as he has previously examined despair. Poppy is a terrific character, brilliantly well-played by Hawkins in a way that keeps her utterly believable. Her silly-giggly approach to even fairly serious situations is infectious, and just when she starts to seem like a sketch comedy character, an unexpected layer of depth is revealed.
The way Poppy jokes her way through life is so hilarious that we can't help but brace ourselves for the arrival of a plotline with some sort of conflict. But it never really happens beyond small incidents and some very creepy interaction. This slice-of-life approach doesn't always work, mainly in an episode with a homeless man (Townsend) feels that like an outtake from a different film. But other scenes have a real kick, and each sequence in the film reveals provocative details about the characters.
Together Leigh and Hawkins are effective at letting us underestimate Poppy, so that what comes along later really takes our breath away. Even without a storyline to speak of, the film has a lot to say about several serious issues, and the interaction between the characters becomes sometimes startlingly realistic. Essentially, this is a film about the difference between acting grown-up and actually being a grown-up. And Leigh reveals this not with a sharp narrative, but through the eyes of a group of extremely well-written and beautifully played people.
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Happy-Go-Lucky (0000) review written by: Rich Cline
28th August 2008: George Clooney Up In The Air! 
