Happy Go Lucky
Director: Mike Leigh
Year: 2008
Stars: Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman
I was really expecting to like this. I'd heard good things about it - primarily that it was a happy, uplifting film. I'm not sure I agree.
The film follows Poppy, a primary school teacher who has an unusually bright outlook on life, as she attempts to take driving lessons with what has to be the worst, grumpiest driving instructor on the planet - or at least in England. I've had some questionable instructors in the past, but thankfully nothing on this scale!
The problem with all this, for me at least, is that I found Poppy to be totally unbelievable. Simply nobody is that cheerful, that much of the time. And if they were, why would they subject themselves to being taught by such an awful person for so long? The ending at least didn't fall into the usual traps - but it also felt a bit like a cop-out to me, refusing to address any of the issues it posed head-on. I guess that at least was true to life though.
Perhaps this really is a cheerful, life-affirming movie, and I just couldn't see it. After all, I seem to be the only person ever who had a problem with Amelie. Maybe there's just too much happiness in these movies for me?
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
About Me
- Anna Lawson
- I live in Bristol with my husband Dan (who I married in July 2007), my son Joe (born 2012) and daughter Jess (born 2015). I work at UWE (the University of the West of England) in Bristol as a Research and Open Access Librarian. I'm orginally from Exeter, so moving back to Bristol is a bit like coming home - especially as I studied for my undergraduate degree here (also at UWE). I love travelling and movies, although I get to do a lot less of both since the birth of our children. Although we have still managed to fit in holidays to the Isles of Scilly, Chamonix and a summer in California since Joe was born.
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