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138 |
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Plot:
A Mike Leigh comedy, Happy-Go-Lucky is set in contemporary London and follows the adventures of Poppy (Sally Hawkins) a primary school teacher. A free spirit, she is open and generous – as funny and a...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:July 12, 2008the movie has been ordered. I would like to see it on the big screen
I haven't seen, but the dvd has been ordered. -
MCT:July 8, 2008Reviewers have called it an incredibly happy, funny, romantic and optimistic film. I personally found it nearly the exact opposite.
Poppy, a generous and 'too nice for her own good" optimist is determined to be happy and make those around her happy if she can. As the film progresses the audience sees her optimistic attitude confronted by the misery of the other characters in the film.
Through the eyes of an optimist we see the pain, suffering, insecurity and loneliness we go through (many worse than others) as we search for meaning, freedom and joy. After each event Poppy is noticeably less happy and smiles less and less.
Im really not sure what exactly this film attempted to achieve, but I think it achieved it. The film makes you feel everything the characters feel; everything we all feel. Hope and hopelessness, love and hate, sympathy and disgust. To me, if this film said anything it said that life is not easy, it is not simple, it is not necessarily happy and it is terribly complex. But if you make the most of it, its ok. -
MCT:July 8, 2008
Love, friendship, teaching, learning, driving, flamenco--this is how I sum up Mike Leigh's latest film, Happy Go Lucky.
Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a 30-year-old London primary school teacher whose cheerful demeanour enables her to deal with whatever life throws at her. She lives with her best friend and fellow primary school teacher Zoe (Alexic Zegerman), whose wry calmness makes her an excellent foil to Poppy's over-the-top enthusiasm. Inasmuch as the two best friends have opposng views at times, they are perfect for each other and love being around each other.
After her bike is stolen, Poppy decides to take driving lessons so she can get around town a little easier. This is where we meet Scott (Eddie Marsan) the uptight driving instructor who is the complete antithesis of Poppy. Scott's strict approach to teaching and his somewhat unstable views on things cause a complete personality clash between the two characters. Poppy always stays true to her genuinely endearing personality and is an eternal optimist no matter what she is faced with. Her happiness is unconditional.
The film is a funny, feel-good and real film that looks deeply into the character's development. It has a beautiful message that is important for us humans to know. It may seem easier to be gruff and pessimistic, but it is so much better to be positive and just get on with life. The end result is a film with memorble characters, great performances and a take-home mesage we could all benefit from.
This is a life-affirming bittersweet comedy that will win over even the most cynical heart. -
MCT:July 6, 2008
Mike Leigh's latest is an alternately charming and chilling comedy, following the exploits of London primary school teacher Poppy (Sally Hawkins), a woman whose boundless optimism is tested but never bested despite the obstacles the modern world throws up. One of these obstacles is Scott (Eddie Marsan), an increasingly unhinged driving instructor under whose tutelage Poppy has the misfortune to be learning to drive. Hawkins gets under your skin as Poppy -- annoyingly at first, then gradually worms her way into your heart -- and Marsan is effectively creepy as Scott. Poppy's flatmate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman) is also terrific as her equally happy but somewhat more measured partner in crime. Ultimately, what really gets Poppy over is her absolute inability to give up on anyone, her belief that anyone and everyone has a shot at happiness and can at least be buoyed by a taste of it. Although, in Leigh's world, as ever, this isn't always possible. This is an enjoyably engaging film, with Leigh's penchant for letting his actors co-create their characters through months of real-world improvisation coming to the fore, giving us characters who are joyously -- and painfully -- real.
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MCT:June 26, 2008
''It's not easy being an adult''
''It's not easy being you, is it?''
Set in contemporary London and follows the adventures of Poppy, a primary school teacher.
Sally Hawkins: Poppy
Happy-Go-Lucky wasn't anything at all what I expected. The beginning of the film I was worried if Mike Leigh's offering may not live up to my expectations, but by the end it exceeded them with the amount of relevant serious points yet simplicity within it's confines.
Poppy played by Sally Hawkins is seriously optimistic and at times completely annoying. Very eccentric behaviour and mannerisms. She ends up being likable and means well, generous and considerate to others.
Hawkins' character is not someone who is inclined to let life get her down, so it's just as well that she is surrounded by people with a somewhat more sardonic or downbeat take on reality.
Her flatmate Zoe played by Alexis Zegerman is a wonderfully dry and sardonic counter to Poppy's vitality, although the affection between them is palpable.
Poppy's younger sisters Suzy and Helen are also quite different.
Suzy turns out to be a law student who is more interested in clubbing, drinking and playing with her brother-in-law's PS2 than criminal justice, while Helen is heavily pregnant, obsessed with acquiring the glories of a respectable suburban life and unable to maintain the notion of how her older sister can be so happy living in a rented flat and not stepping onto the property ladder albeit a Mortgage and coining a pension.
The big surprise for me is that I had been led to believe that this is a more or less straightforward feel-good comedy. That isn't true.
Scott, Poppy's driving teacher played by Eddie Marsan is one of the most faceted and troubled characters.
Marsan's performance is one of the best things going in Happy-Go-Lucky. Scott has been afflicted with very bad teeth and although his inner anger and meanderings is applied for laughs in alot of the film, in the end it is allowed to result in an exploding unleashed scene where his angry delusions and troubles he has bottled up inside suddenly all come gushing out in an array of emotion, a tornado that has been set free.
What Happy-Go-Lucky offers us is an insight into someones life, in this instance Poppy's and capitalizes on it truthfully.
Be it a Dance class with passion and unexpected drama or an encounter with a homeless man which shows Poppy's braveness, or even the beginning of a relationship for her with a young Social Worker she meets at her work because of a troubled young boy in her Class. All of these things show a fraction of what Happy-Go-Lucky is, and that being said it ends up being not just a comedy, not just a feel good movie but an in-depth Study of a loving albeit eccentric woman and a journey of life with all it's many highs and lows.
Original, different and maintains something lacking from alot of films today. A story of young vibrant woman's life, Happy-Go-Lucky is worth watching. -
MCT:May 21, 2008
An inspiring, genuinely enchanting feel-good film, with a lovely performance from Sally Hawkins, and a lot to ponder after the credits to roll. Brilliantly combines realism with idealism.
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MCT:May 19, 2008
Entertaining Mike Leigh comedy/drama. I like Sally Hawkins a lot, but you really want to give her a damn good slapping she is so annoying in this film! However, the relationships and situations make it intriguing to watch, if a bit lightweight.
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MCT:April 25, 2008I find it ironic that people are complaining about poppy's general happiness on here so much - because blatantly, that's the kind of attitude she stands against. Put on a happy face!
Anyway, I liked it. -
MCT:April 23, 2008i absolutely adored this movie! one of the few that made me smile for days after watching it. brilliant. probably my favourite mike leigh film, well, ties with naked
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MCT:April 22, 2008
Although relative unknowns I thought the strong characters we very well portrayed. The movie raises lots of themes for reflection and discussion. Go see it, it may amuse or irritate - I'm interested to know.
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MCT:April 22, 2008
"I am struggling to think of a more accurately titled film in the last year so than Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky. It's a film that harbours one of the friendliest, most likeable and, that's right you guessed it, happiest characters you are likely to see all year."
Full Review Here -
MCT:April 21, 2008
sally hawkings is great in this mike leigh comedy drama, hawkins plays poppy a very happy primary school teacher, but with no man in her life, while hanging around with her mates, not a care in the world, very well acted throughout, and great scenes of comic value, especially scenes betwen her and driving instructure, well constructed comedy moments of temper and flierting, also the film isnt short on good solid drama, with some good messages to be had
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MCT:April 16, 2008another film by mike leigh that will bore you to tears...for the 118minutes you are sat waiting for something to happen,just when something remotely interesting happens its over.a young girl trapped in a woman's body one of those films that makes you look at life and analyse life and looking at the characters in this film you think my life's not so bad after all.not a film where you can relate to the characters who lack soul or purpose but then this is my opinion...watch this film for yourself;but i'm just glad i didn't pay to watch this.a film that i won't be rushing out to buy when released onto dvd and certainly one later in the year i will be saying....happy go what!!!!
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MCT:April 16, 2008
Its true that this movie's message or plot is quite obvious and nothing new but it's still nice to see a movie that acknowledges it on the big screen.
The movie doesn't really follow a plot but is loosely based on a character who is quite the positive person and someone who just enjoys life as it comes. Then she comes across things that make her think but at the end that still doesn't dampen her mood.
It's an uplifting movie indeed but if you love your plots and direction then this movie isn't for you. I think it's an interesting watch, It's also very funny in some parts and the main character is a lovable one.
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DeeSnkeposted 1 day ago
