Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Mike Leigh

Writer:

Mike Leigh (writer)

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The one movie this fall that will put a smile on your face.

Plot:

A look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.

Plot Keywords:

Teacher | Flamenco | Driving | School | Happiness

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 20 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Sally Hawkins	...	Poppy
Elliot Cowan	...	Bookshop Assistant
Alexis Zegerman	...	Zoe
Andrea Riseborough	...	Dawn
Sinead Matthews	...	Alice (as Sinéad Matthews)
Kate O'Flynn	...	Suzy
Sarah Niles	...	Tash
Eddie Marsan	...	Scott
Joseph Kloska	...	Suzy's Boyfriend
Sylvestra Le Touzel	...	Heather
Anna Reynolds	...	Receptionist
Nonso Anozie	...	Ezra
Trevor Cooper	...	Patient
Karina Fernandez	...	Flamenco Teacher
Philip Arditti	...	Flamenco Student

Also Known As:

Untitled Mike Leigh Project (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:15A | Netherlands:12 | USA:R | Germany:6 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Hong Kong:IIA | France:U | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | Finland:K-7 | Sweden:7 | Singapore:PG | Mexico:B | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Camden, London, England, UK

Company:

Film4

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At one point, Scott guesses Poppy's age and is - by several years - incorrect. Yet, as he is her driving instructor, he would have seen her provisional driving license (as we see when they first meet), which always has the pupil's date of birth on it.

Quotes:

Scott: Bear with me.
Poppy: Is there? Where is he?

Movie Connections:

References Splinter Cell (2002) (VG)

Soundtrack:

ABC

Someone needs their Ritalin

A film of unbelievable awfulness from the usually reliable but increasingly smug Mike Leigh.

I know Sophie Hawkins is a great actress -- I've seen her before, and she was brilliant. Here, however...well, imagine the most annoying character Catherine Tate can come up with, the most grating cheerfulness and hyperactivity she could invest in one of her sketches, a kind of anti-Lauren, if you will, then multiply that by ten and stretch it out for two hours. That would be Poppy, the main character in this film. Words cannot describe how mind-bogglingly irritating she is or how tedious it becomes.

Eddy Marsden, another fine actor, gives a similar, albeit temperamentally opposite performance, as a driving instructor so obviously deranged, such a hectoring bully from his very first scene, that it's hard to believe he has any clients at all or is even allowed in a car. Both he and Sophie Hawkins act as if given one-word character traits on an index card and told to riff round them. It's not only wearying, but it's implausible.

Other fine actors also suffer: Stanley Townsend, a great and underrated character actor, turns up as a tramp in a scene that has absolutely nothing to do with anything whatsoever and comes from nowhere. It's great to see him on the big screen, and I hope that he gets used constructively very soon rather than randomly and nonsensically inserted for some spurious dramatic effect.

Meanwhile, Leigh gets his class digs in. He really, really has a problem with the middle classes. It's always been an issue with him, and he'll leap at any opportunity to portray them as grasping, shallow, materialistic snobs, while the working classes are -- natch -- lovable and warmhearted. Here he drives this home with an unbelievably putrid scene involving Poppy's sister in Southend, in which all the clichés are trotted out within a few seconds. The sister shows pride in her house and espouses the virtues of home, babies, property and pension plans, while being portrayed as a shrill harridan who nags Poppy about her "free-spirited" lifestyle. I've seen this debate played out better in US sitcoms 30 years ago, and it's presented here on such a basic, cartoon level it adds nothing dramatically, thematically or sociologically. It's just Leigh doing his propaganda puppet show with a surprising degree of ineptitude.

This is supposed to be Leigh's "comedy", but is so dull and witless it's hard to believe it's meant to be remotely funny. "Life is Sweet" was far, far funnier, and that wasn't even trying. See that film and mourn what a great talent Leigh was. Amazing how warm and funny you can be when you're not screaming "FUNNY!" "WHACKY!!" "HEART WARMING!!".

Plus side? Great location shooting, a side of London familiar to me but not over familiar (no Tower Bridge/Gherkin/tourist shots) although it was pointed out that, in the final confrontation, the car screeches to a halt in Foxham Gardens in Tufnell Park, and Poppy gets out of the car....in a street in Camden.