Summary:
An optimistic schoolteacher living in London navigates her life trying to make the best of everything.
My Thoughts:
I feel like recently I’ve been burning through Mike Leigh’s films faster than a California wildfire through Malibu (too soon?); I simply can’t get enough of them. “Happy-Go-Lucky" is probably one of the lightest Mike Leigh movies- honestly it feels like the antithesis of "Naked”, which was one of the most nihilistic films I’ve ever seen (but also one of the most brilliant). “Happy-Go-Lucky" is exuberantly happy, defiantly so, and therein lies it’s charm and also it’s greatest themes. Leigh has made a career out of examining the lives of unique characters, and Poppy (Sally Hawkins, "The Shape of Water”) is one of his most joyous characters. But while Poppy’s outlook on life is overwhelmingly optimistic, her friends and colleagues around her tend to view things in a much more realistic (or negative) light, but that doesn’t keep Poppy down. She’s a character that feels the need to make others feel the same happiness she does, even if, in the process of trying to convince them to be happy, she ends up annoying them even more. While I wont say this is Leigh’s best film (for me, at least so far as I’ve seen, that would be "Naked" or “Secrets and Lies”), it is certainly one of the funniest and sweetest, and if I were to recommend a starting point for Leigh, I might suggest starting here.
“The road to reality… don’t wanna be going there…”
Poppy (Hawkins) is an optimistic schoolteacher living in London who spends her days doing her best to make sure everyone around her is happy. Though at times it becomes difficult for Poppy to maintain her optimism, she seems to find it important to exude such happiness. Some of the students she deals with need a bit more attention, some of the people she runs into on the street just need a bit of love, and maybe the irritable driving instructor (Eddie Marsan, “The World’s End”) she hires to help her with lessons is just insecure and depressed. Whatever issues anyone is going through, Poppy seems to be sure that a big smile and a good attitude can cure anything and everything.
As with all Mike Leigh films, the writing and acting are the aspects of the film that stick out the most. His writing style is unique in that he spends weeks in rehearsal before the shooting begins, and during those rehearsals he has his actors run lines repeatedly whilst in character, he writes and rewrites dialogue based on the improvised interactions between the characters, and he has the actors help with the backstories for their characters. Because of his unique writing style, Leigh’s characters always feel more tangible than other characters you might see in other similar films. Let’s face it, there are tons of movies out there about ridiculously happy people and many of those films turn their protagonists into cartoon characters- but Poppy’s character doesn’t feel like a caricature at all, she feels incredibly human. Part of the reason Poppy feels so realistic is that her world is filled with people who aren’t happy, that, in fact, find Poppy’s happiness to be irritating more than endearing.
As I mentioned before, Leigh’s "Naked" feels like the antithesis to this movie. Where Johnny is nihilistic and hell-bent on making sure everyone feels his misery, Poppy is forever optimistic and determined to make everyone feel her happiness. It’s funny to think that both these films came from the same director, because one is so hopeless, and the other, while it acknowledges the troubles in the world, it also seems to give off a positive message about maintaining happiness and making it through life unscathed. There are moments when Poppy’s happiness is almost quite literally a light in the darkness for some people- and it’s in those scenes that this film achieves its greatness. There’s a scene where Poppy follows around a rambling homeless man and just shows him kindness. For a while, the man is confused, almost suspicious about her, but as Poppy continues to show him grace, the man eventually relents and the two share a moment. Though what the man says is practically nonsensical, we get the idea that he’s grateful for that simple shared moment.
There are other great moments that give insights into even the minor character’s backstories. Perhaps my favorite scenes were between Poppy and Scott (Marsan), her irate driving instructor. Scott is the polar opposite of Poppy, and at first Scott seems intent to willfully push her away, but still Poppy insists on being nice. The result is in turns hilarious and sad as we peer deeper into Scott’s psyche.
Verdict:
In the end, the scenes that Leigh chooses to display paint a portrait of a person who is acutely aware of the sufferings of her fellow man, and she does her best to alleviate any of the suffering she can. I would say this is one of the more digestible Leigh films, and it’s certainly one of his funnier entries. I’m sure you’re sick of my raving about how realistically personable and emotionally relevant Leigh’s films are at this point, but guess what?
I’m going to keep doing it.
I’ve only got a few Leigh films left to see, so if you’ve enjoyed Leigh as much as I have, watch for those reviews soon.
Review Written By: