Film: Happy-Go-Lucky
Cast includes: Sally Hawkins (An Education), Eddie Marsan (Little Dorrit)
Director: Mike Leigh (Topsy-Turvy)
Genre: Comedy (2008)
Warning: Strong British accents and fast dialogue
In brief: Poppy is habitually happy. She’s relentlessly cheerful. She’s aggravatingly joyful. It doesn’t matter who she encounters or what the circumstances, she’s not only jovial, she bubbles over. And when she meets someone who’s grumpy, she turns it up. When Poppy’s bike is stolen, all she has to say is “Didn’t even have a chance to say good-bye.” But she’s not getting another bike. She’s going to take driving lessons.
When Scott turns up to give her driving lessons, it’s obvious that Scott is going to test Poppy’s cheerful nature. He barks out instructions, demands she wear sensible shoes, reprimands her for her irresponsible attitude and pummels her with conspiracy theories. But at the end of every lesson, he asks, “Same time next week?” And she says yes. Does Poppy ever attempt to take Scott’s criticism to heart? Never. In fact, she turns up the cheerfulness. She’s used to winning people over… sometimes it works… sometimes it doesn’t.
Happy-Go-Lucky isn’t a movie with a lot of plot turns. In fact, it gets off to a rather slow start. It’s hinged almost entirely on the development of the characters and how they interact with each other. Its mostly improvised style began with director Mike Leigh working with each character individually to develop his or her character. In fact, when Eddie Marsan first started developing the character of Scott, he thought he was making a darker version of Taxi Driver. He then found himself in the front seat with Sally Hawkins’s Poppy, and the sparks started flying. This film has garnered major awards for the acting, directing and screenplay. But Sally Hawkins is truly amazing. In the beginning, we don’t know whether to be annoyed by her, embarrassed for her or just to enjoy her. She has absolutely no sense of whether her behavior is appropriate for the situations she finds herself in… and she doesn’t care. She either grows on you or she doesn’t. She grows on most.
3 popped kernels
Popped kernels for the amazing performances... especially Sally... and the creativity.
