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Happy-Go-Lucky

Release Date 18 Apr 2008 TBA

  • User rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
  • Critic rating

  89% of raters want to see this movie

Certificate: 15

Genre:

Just how hard is it to be happy? In the effervescent new comedy from writer/director Mike Leigh, Sally Hawkins stars as Poppy, an irrepressibly free-spirited school teacher who brings an infectious laugh and an unsinkable sense of optimism to every situation she encounters, offering us a touching, truthful and deeply life-affirming exploration of one of the most mysterious and often the most elusive of all human qualities: happiness. Poppy's ability to maintain her perspective is tested as the story begins and her commuter bike is stolen. However, she enthusiastically signs up for driving lessons with Scott, who turns out to be her nemesis--a fuming, uptight cynic. As the tension of their weekly lessons builds, Poppy encounters even more challenges to her positive state of mind: a fiery flamenco instructor, her bitter, pregnant sister, a troubled homeless man and a young bully in her class, not to mention that she has also thrown out her back. How this affects not only Poppy's world view but also the outlook of those around her begs the question "glass half full or half empty"?

Cast:
Sally Hawkins | Alexis Zegerman | Andrea Riseborough | Sinead Matthews | Kate O'Flynn | Sarah Niles | Eddie Marsan | Sylvestra Le Touzel | Elliot Cowan | Nonso Anozie

Writers:
Mike Leigh

Producers:
Simon Channing-Williams

Directors:
Mike Leigh

Movies.ie Critic Review

Our critics review will be added soon.

  • Avg User rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.

User Reviews

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    Aowyn

    Hawkins is brilliant as Poppy,she's one of my new favourite Mike Leigh characters. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

    • Currently 1/5 Stars.

    mart

    boring film that goes nowhere

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    Divasanon

    Very good.

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    monika_fan

    First half of the film was rather boring. In a second half there was some action and funny dialogs. In general this film was ok.

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    gmiskelly

    I thought it was funny and quite touching (Eddie Marsan was ace as usual En-ra-ha!!) Whether you like it or not hinges a lot on your love hate of the main character

    • Currently 5/5 Stars.

    Mr_Twist

    Excellent movie... takes a bit of getting onto at the start but once it gets going it is a rollercoaster of uncinfortable laughes...

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    ndoyle82

    intersting film.no a big story just a person's life story.i liked it

    • Currently 1/5 Stars.

    lamda

    Ridiculously irritating central character. Plus I kept waiting for some kind of narrative to kick in and it never did. Dull.

    • Currently 5/5 Stars.

    WildRose86

    Happy and quirky! With a little mentalness thrown in for good measure!

    • Currently 2/5 Stars.

    fargoboy

    Is the lead actress doing a Catherine Tate parody, because that’s all I got from this mindless, storyless, pointless Mike Leigh exercise in self indulgence. It’s just an example of how very wrong Leigh can be; sometimes a film needs a strong starting script, a clear cut character and a narrative going somewhere. Definitely one that Leigh fans will find hard to take, Happy-Go-Lucky is designed for a Calendar Girls audience, as opposed to Career Girls… (Skip happy-go-lucky and watch the latter ins

    • Currently 5/5 Stars.

    TheDave

    Something very different from Leigh’s usual grim range. It’s not a story heavy film, it’s a character driven piece and you can’t help but love Sally Hawkin’s as Poppy.

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    ishouldcoco