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Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
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Overview
Release Date:
26 September 2008 (USA) moreGenre:
DramaAwards:
1 win & 1 nomination moreUser Comments:
Maybe the world is too much for even the most dedicated optimist? moreCast
(Credited cast)| Sally Hawkins | ... | Poppy | |
| Alexis Zegerman | ... | Zoe | |
| Andrea Riseborough | ... | Dawn | |
| Samuel Roukin | ... | Tim | |
| Sinead Matthews | ... | Alice | |
| Kate O'Flynn | ... | Suzy | |
| Sarah Niles | ... | Tash | |
| Eddie Marsan | ... | Scott | |
| Joseph Kloska | ... | Suzy's friend | |
| Sylvestra Le Touzel | ... | Heather | |
| Elliot Cowan | ... | Bookseller | |
| Nonso Anozie | ... | Ezra | |
| Trevor Cooper | ... | Patient | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Philip Arditti | ... | Flamenco Student | |
| Karina Fernandez | ... | Flamenco - Spanish Dance Teacher | |
| Tim Glanfield | ... | Man in Pub | |
| Oliver Maltman | ... | Jamie | |
| Rebekah Staton | ... | Flamenco Student | |
| Stanley Townsend | ... | Tramp | |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
Germany:118 min (Berlin International Film Festival)Country:
UKLanguage:
EnglishColour:
ColourAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreMOVIEmeter: 
Fun Stuff
Goofs:
Errors in geography: Poppy cycles South of the river over Blackfriars Bridge but gets off in postcode EC1 (shown on a road sign), which is north of the river. A minute later, when she walks into a shop, she's in SE1 -- which is where she should have ended up. moreFAQ
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Some UK critics have been saying that "Happy-Go-Lucky" is the happiest and most cheerful movie that Mike Leigh has ever made. Well, I don't know if I would exactly agree with that. It is and it isn't.
Sally Hawkins' primary school teacher Poppy is, indeed, a very happy individual. Annoyingly happy, insanely cheerful, depressingly optimistic and psychotically 'Up!', most of the time. It is a tribute to Sally Hawkins performance that, once you get past the initial irritation with her, you completely fall in love with Poppy, her goodness, her openness and, yes, her simple niceness.
Then there is Eddie Marsan's driving instructor Scott. Scott is the very antithesis of happy. Scott is rigid, angry, frustrated, impatient, knotted up and racist. A borderline OCD sufferer, who is tortured by who-knows-what in his past. Scott is the most bitter and overwhelming character in a Mike Leigh film since David Thewlis' Johnny in "Naked". It is a towering performance by Eddie Marsan.
If Poppy is the light, Scott is definitely the dark, but it seemed to me that dark shadows inhabit the whole of "Happy-Go-Lucky". The unhappy schoolboy, the glum Sister, the other sister - a social climber who dominates her husband. Little vignettes of irritation and annoyance. Typical Mike Leigh.
"Happy-Go-Lucky" is a really good film, if you stick with it. I liked the way that Poppy does stop smiling towards the end. Maybe the world is too much for even the most dedicated optimist?