Be Happy

This film is about a London school teacher who is constantly happy, and even childish.

I was hoping "Happy Go Lucky" would at least be a feel good happy movie. With this expectation, I was devastatingly disappointed by what I saw. Poppy is a person who does not take anything seriously. Instead of being cute and comical, she comes across as being very annoying and even offensively stupid at times. She and her friends engage in tireless and pointless conversations, making the whole film really boring. The driving instructor is unlikeable as he is uptight and rigid, but his scenes are the comparatively most captivating out of the whole film.

I don't see the reason for the rave reviews for this film. It's ever so boring and irritating.

When this film came out my girlfriend said she wanted to see it because she'd heard good things. After much time waiting for her to be in the mood for it, I eventually queued it up when by myself and I am glad I did as she would have truly hated this film. The plot (as light as it is) is about a 30-year-old woman who is as cheerful and perky as the day is long. She hangs out with her friends, she meets a guy, she learns how to drive and in all these things we see her infectious sense of happiness. There isn't much more to this and I do not thing I have seen a film that depends so totally on whether or not you like the main character.

I said she is infectious but then so are many diseases and to be honest I found Poppy to be as enjoyable. Her character is the type to speak to strangers, to constantly have a zany remark, to be the one making a spectacle of herself and so on. Of course her being the polar opposite of me didn't help, but I found nothing to make me question myself here and on the contrary I spent much of the film wondering if Polly isn't suffering from some sort of mental illness. The majority of the film sees Poppy in full-on zany mood, mostly in collaboration with others but occasionally contrasting her with a dull married couple and her driving instructor, who carries all of his anger with him all the time. When the film is letting Poppy just be herself I found it tiresome. As a character she says nothing real and everything is a little joke or witty episode. It is only the contrast where she comes out and I think there is really only one or two moments in the film where I felt a real person had come out of Poppy.

The cast are mixed and not in a goo way. Hawkins got lots of praise of this performance but I thought it was terrible. In one or two scenes she lets the façade drop so we see her at her most real. I loved these moments but the downside of them was that we then know the rest is a façade and not her really. Her acting involves cheeky mockney dialogue and little else. Marsan is much better. His rage and anger is convincing and his performance works well next to the moments when Hawkins is not OTT cheerful. The supporting cast is OK but really it is Hawkins' film and this is something to keep in mind.

Whether you like this film or not depends very much on liking Poppy. You may find her freewheeling color to be charmingly quirky but for me she used it as a barrier to any real discussion or humanity and she struck me as disingenuous throughout the film. The moments where she drops the wisecracks and zaniness and lets something like empathy or concern for others come through are great, but they are few and far between.

Having read some critiques to the extent that this was a film about a naive, childish woman who refused to take life seriously, I was hesitant whether I'd be able to bear this movie.

Luckily, it turned out to be one of the most entertaining cinema experiences since quite a long time.

Poppy isn't the person refusing to become an adult which her misanthropic driving instructor Scott accuses her to be. Our time indeed seems to bring about such people but they could hardly be more different than this lovely young woman. The first scene, with the girls drunk and chatting nonsense, is perhaps a bit misleading on this issue. (In fact, several people left the cinema during this scene, seemingly annoyed of all the giggling.) Rather, Poppy is wise and strong, trying to see the positive in everyone and everything. Humour, and sometimes benign derision, are her ways of keeping sulkiness out of her life. But, as everyone with a heart should feel, that is a gift, not a deficit. What damage can it cause to have a nice word or a smile for your fellow humans? On the other hand, she doesn't shut her eyes on the sad sides of life, such as a traumatized homeless man or a boy beaten by his mother's new partner, and one understands that she is deeply sad about not being able to help Scott, even if she would have had every reason to simply hate him for his bad temper, his racism and his stalking.

The director has done a superb job with this production; it is packed with intelligent, witty dialogs and convincingly drawn characters.

Our world needs a lot more people like Poppy, or at least -- if they don't possess her strength and optimism -- people who are sympathetic with her values instead of feeling threatened by humaneness. Yes, life is difficult and often sad, so let's tackle it with a smile!

Mike Leigh's done it again ... for fans and detractors alike! Poppy, his latest creation, sails through this slice of life with a smile on her face, fun on her mind and kindness in her heart.

Irritating? I didn't think so. On my good days, I rather hope there's a little of her in me.

For me, she was quite brilliantly brought to life by the excellent Sally Hawkins. Ironically, if she calls to mind any other inhabitant of Planet Leigh then it's probably Jane Horrocks's rather more sour Nic (or was it Nat?) in Life Is Sweet.

And Poppy has much to be happy about. A true friend, with whom she shares a not-too-shabby flat in a Finsbury Park that I shall not stoop to comparing with the N4 district of my own experience. A job she was born to do, among supportive colleagues. An enjoyable social life, memories of travels past, a cool reetro bike (for a while, at least ... ) and a wardrobe straight out of (ahem!) an Australian's nightmare all go to emphasise the message given by the film's title.

Into her life ambles driving instructor Scott, played by the ever-welcome Eddie Marsan, and the real fun begins. If Poppy can be said to stroll across the surface of life's duckpond without even getting the soles of her cowboy boots wet, then Scott is a man slowly drowning. The film's strongest plot line (this *is* Mike Leigh!) charts the evolving relationship between these apparent opposites,and the interplay really lights up the screen.

To say more would dent your enjoyment should you decide to go and see for yourself! If you go by bike, remember to lock up securely or - better still - maybe your best friend will take you along in her "mad" yellow car.

However you get there, why not let Poppy's attitude infect you for a few hours after you leave? It probably will anyway ...

As always, Mike Leigh also in this delivers a film with a unique insight into everyday people. But unlike many other of his films, this is more light and easy in the tone and what I want to call a feel-good movie. The film is based on the character Poppy, and goes straight into her life. It may be strange to write this, but the movie actually has little content besides following her many strange incidents and funny episodes. But even if the movie misses a story that builds itself up and draws you into the action, it works just fine. Much thanks to the main role holder who is really created for the role of the freaky, fun and funny poppy. We also need such movie experiences.