Happy-Go-Lucky

I always look forward to a new Mike Leigh film and Happy-Go-Lucky was no acception. Now mind you, this is not his best work (Naked, Secrets and Lies and Vera Drake would be in that category. But even a lesser Leigh work is better than the majority of films that come out these days.

The film focuses on school teacher Poppy (Sally Hawkins). Poppy is always upbeat. Even after someone steals her bike she looks on the bright side of things. She lives with her long time roommate and friend Zoe (Alexis Zegerman) who is a bit more tart than Poppy. After the bike theft Poppy decides that she wants to take driving lessons. Her driving instructor is the bitter, angry Scott (Eddie Marsan).

At the beginning of the film I thought that Poppy was a bit much but she soon won me over. And that is because of Hawkins' wonderful performance. Poppy is a nice person but she is sometimes too nice and that lead to trouble. And she is also nieve. There is a scene with a homeless man that made me say to myself "what is she thinking?" I liked Zegerman's performance and also thought that Karina Fernandez as the flamenco teacher was very good. But, for me, Marsan was best of all. He was just amazing as the unhappy Scott. Poppy and Scott's scene towards the end of the film was the best. It was well worth waiting for.

And that brings me to why I don't think that this is one of Leigh's best works. The plot is lacking. It doesn't have a real direction. I wanted to see a better developed story. I guess we will have to wait for Leigh's next film for that.

However, I still very much recommend this film for its fine performances and its life lesson (you should be able to figure it out). And I also want people to see it because Leigh is such a great writer/director. So please check out Happy-Go-Lucky as soon as you can.