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Rating of
2.5/4
"Happy-Go-Lucky" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/30/2012
In a variation on the theme of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky is a comedy drama about a 30 year old primary teacher called Poppy who has an undying enthusiasm for life and an unwavering optimism in the face of adversity. No doubt deliberately, Poppy comes across as a rather irritating and fatuous creature from the opening of the film, her constant chattering and giggling grating on my cynical, world-weary nerves with a vengeance. But the scenes at her work reveal the roots of her attitude, and it's very difficult not to warm to her. Basically she sees everyone in the world as one of the children she teaches, and tries to understand how they've become what they are; even a tramp who lives in a local back alley and her racist, emotionally stunted driving instructor. …
Rating of
4/4
One of 2008's Best Feel-Good Films
Franz Patrick - wrote on 05/14/2009
Upon reading other people’s reviews, I got the feeling that Poppy (Sally Hawkins) was this person who was happy all the time and wasn’t at all affected by other people’s negative emotions. After actually watching the film, I believe she’s not like that at all. In fact, she cares so much about other people–her family, her friends, even complete strangers–to the point where she tries to make them happy when she senses that they’re having a bad day or they have something heavy in their minds. Her default emotion is happiness, which is unlike many people whose default is neutral, and that makes her really interesting and entertaining to watch. Writer and director Mike Leigh (”Vera Drake”) did a great job introducing an extremely charming and likable character right from the …
Rating of
3/4
Sally Hawkins is great, the movie is forgettable
TommyL31 - wrote on 04/17/2009
This was an interesting movie. Essentially a character picture about an overly cheerly and optimistic girl and her interactions with others. The flow of the movie itself seemed dull and aimless at times but I think there was some great character work done here. Poppy was excellent and grew more interesting and endearing as the movie wore on. I think Scott the driving instructor was also incredibly well done.
At the end of the day though I think you have to have an amazing character (see "There Will Be Blood") to abandon a good storyline as much as they did. I think Milk did a great balancing job this year. Had a good story and a strong lead part that drew you in as well.
I give the movie credit though for its drama-comedy fence straddling with the character. It's not easy to do …
