Happy Go Lucky is a British movie that was a mere blip on the radar in the US so I jumped on the chance to see it. The movie directed by Mike Leigh, features Sally Hawkins as Poppy, an elementary school teacher with an interesting take on life. Yes, you guessed it, Poppy is happy go lucky. She has an extremely positive view of life, she smiles and laughs at anything and everything. The movie basically takes us through a few events in her life and how she deals with them: Dealing with a rude bookstore clerk, the Flamingo dancing lessons, learning to drive with Scott, a super-uptight low-esteem driving instructor (superbly played by Eddie Marsan), or dealing with one of her troubled school kid.

Sally Hawkins was superb as the ever-cheerful Poppy but the highlight of the movie is the incredible performance by Eddie Marsan, the angry and simply unhappy driving instructor. He is the exact opposite of Poppy: a strict, uptight, intolerant bigot with an extremely short fuse and oozing unhappiness. Happy meets unhappy, positive meets negative, sparks fly. His character was extremely interesting because we all know that those individuals exist among us. Fully functional and contributing people in our society who are just deeply unhappy and frustrated inside, for God knows what reason. The movie looks into how do you deal with these people, do you do the natural thing and reflect negativity back at them, or do you try to help them in a positive kind of way? Do unhappy people choose to be unhappy? According to Mike Leigh, yes people make conscious choice of being happy or unhappy. Happiness come from within.

I’m not really sure what to make of this movie, this is the type of movie that some people will love while many mainstream viewers would be turned off by the overly-quirky and bubbly main character and the overall lack of a plot. Although there is deep messages conveyed in the movie about the meaning of happiness, I found that some scenes could have been edited out and that the overall direction of the movie was confusing. Getting accustomed to that little dynamite stick that is Poppy takes a little while and I felt the movie did not open well as I quickly wondered, what did I get myself into? But as the movie unfolds, you realize that Poppy is not some lunatic freak, she is not hopelessly naive or any different from other people. She simply made a conscious choice to live happy and positively: Happiness comes from within. As shown in her meeting with a weird homeless guy at night, she trust people and believes that people are essentially good. The main message of this uplifting movie is that you can choose to live positively and if you can see that through the movie and the characters, you will probably enjoy the movie. If, however, you are looking for quick entertainment and messages that “hit you in the face”, you will probably find the movie disappointing if not unbearable.

Great performances and interesting take on the meaning of happiness but somewhat unappealing viewing experience that could irritate many viewers…

B

Notes: Rated R for language, 118 minutes.