As always, Mike Leigh also in this delivers a film with a unique insight into everyday people. But unlike many other of his films, this is more light and easy in the tone and what I want to call a feel-good movie. The film is based on the character Poppy, and goes straight into her life. It may be strange to write this, but the movie actually has little content besides following her many strange incidents and funny episodes. But even if the movie misses a story that builds itself up and draws you into the action, it works just fine. Much thanks to the main role holder who is really created for the role of the freaky, fun and funny poppy. We also need such movie experiences.

A while back, I suggested a poll on IMDb about the best fictional life therapist one could ever dream of, characters like Ferris Bueller, R.P. McMurphy, Amelie and Baloo grabbed the most votes. Last time I checked, Poppy was number 17 and after watching "Happy-Go-Lucky", she had to get my vote. I suspect if the film was one tenth as known as all the classics she 'competed' with, she would have been in the Top 5. I can't think of a more positive movie character, no I can't.The film opens with the kind of whimsical tune you expect from feel-good movies and we see Poppy (Sally Hawkins) joyfully riding her bicycle across London. She stops near a library and tries to make some small talk with the taciturn owner, a few jokes here and there, but not a smile in return. Yet it doesn't feel awkward, Poppy seems inside a magical bubble that makes her immune to the word 'embarrassment'. That scene says a lot about her character but that's not her character establishing moment. The real signal is when she goes back and can't find her bike, it's been stolen. Any normal person would have dropped a few F or S bombs, a sigh, or raised hands in disbelief. Poppy has none of that, she wishes she could have said 'goodbye' to her bike. What does she do next? She takes driving lessons. What she did is simple yet it would pass over the majority of people: she turned a mini-crisis into a big opportunity, she didn't see the half-full glass, she drunk it and it tasted good. And in the process, she set up the structuring conflict of the film, with her driving instructor Scott (Eddie Marsan) another "school of thought" as far as optimism is concerned. When a little rainbow of a woman bringing sunshine wherever she goes meets an intellectual malcontent and conspiracy freak, you can only expect friction. And I kept waiting for it. All through Mike Leigh's film, I kept waiting for the 'snapping' moment or the revelation about Poppy's hidden wound. I mean, a girl who feels the need to go crazy and funny, to find excuses for joking and teasing and giggling all the time, must have something to hide? Am I too cynical? No, our world is. Mike Leigh made an intelligent film in the sense that he anticipated our own defensive reaction toward Poppy. She's too empathetic to inspire our empathy, at first. That's the problem, we've been raised on so many 'three dimensional' characters that we're sure there is a catch, that a breaking point will be reached. But as the story advances, we realize that she's not a grown-up child, she's not living in a fantasy, she's not a clown, she's a mature, adult woman, with a fantastic capability for humor, laughs and a sincere desire to bring the goodness in everyone. On that level, Sally Hawkins delivers the kind of performance so often snubbed by the Oscars while it takes more acting skills to play such a heart-warming and optimistic character than some depressed or struggling character. There comes a moment where we admire Poppy, for the way she listens to a child, to a bum no one ever paid attention to, the way she reacts to her instructor's tantrums. We don't question her attitude but ours. That's a woman who takes everything in all stride and no matter how shaken she is, she listens and talks. There is one powerful moment with her pregnant sister, she doubts about her happiness, she encourages her to make plans, to be more adult, but Poppy says she's happy the way she is, and she's not in a hurry to have kids. The discussion escalates to the point that the sister is taking offense of Poppy's reaction, she's like unhappy about her happiness and that says a lot about people's need to feel good the wrong way.The sister leaves the room but what I loved is that Poppy didn't even feel guilty. When you've got nothing to blame on yourself, why would you? The film culminates with the confrontation with Scott, the man blames Poppy for being a sort of self-centered selfish attention whore who's harmful to people. Marsan reveals that he wanted to 'possess' her in a way and he represents the most extreme side of the sister's attitude: he is so unhappy in his life that he established unhappiness as a norm, and Poppy is the weirdo by his own wicked standards. The climax shows that happiness, optimism are free assets but in fact luxuries a few people can afford, and it is served by great performances from both Hawkins and Marsan.Poppy can because she takes life as it comes, she takes driving courses, flamenco lessons, and doesn't take life seriously, except for the serious things like jobs and people. And life proves her right, it is very ironic that the very day after her sister's critics, she had a date and the relationship seemed promising. And you can tell her roommate (Alexis Zegerman) is almost sad because she knows she'll never have a better company than her Poppy. There's a reason why they've been sharing the same apartment for ten years. Hawkins' smile was so communicative I couldn't have resisted either, I'm among these constantly unhappy persons but Mike Leigh's film was an epiphany. This man knows how to handle human emotions, after this film and "Secrets& Lies", it's now a certitude.To put it differently, if you want to show someone what emotional intelligence is about, all you've got to do is show him this film. It's as simple as that, this is a powerful movie about happiness and it doesn't even try to play some emotional twist, why should someone like Poppy ever change? We should, not her.

One of these movies that kind of offer nothing. Or maybe, to be more exact, a bundle of clichés with no depth, not scratching even a bit below the surface. This is not a lesson about optimism or a guide for your life in any way. The central character of the movie is no apocalypse for anyone. She is just an optimist but heavily depressed if you ask me, with lots and lots of issues to resolve.This cheerful lady, borderline stupid actually, that goes through some quite ordinary stuff in her life, if you take out one of the incidents, in which she was kind of to blame as well. A group of girlfriends that are also really boring, leading a wasted lifestyle at night and teaching kids during the day. Nice! Some fragments of life lessons but such that are really obvious and for the simple-minded. In general, a movie with little to show, saved (if at all) by some glimpses of acting from some of the cast members. If you still watch it, you will find yourself constantly waiting for something to break the boredom and give some meaning. You will wonder why you're still watching it and haven't turned it off yet, and once it's over, you will be left with a feeling of lost time and maybe with some less IQ points, but for sure a couple of hours wasted...!

(***) out of (*****)"Happy-Go-Lucky" is the sort of film I expected to be a critically-acclaimed family-friendly tour- de-force into Sally Hawkin's everyday life. What you'll get instead is an independent, not-for- everyone sort of tour-de-force, but still keeping its critical (and public?) acclaim. How did it resonate with me?A bit overrated. Sure the average IMDb score is a 7, which I'm awarding it, but while I'd give the film a solid 3/4, most are either impeccable or near-impeccable marks (which I can understand), but I feel while being a good film, has its problems.Let's start off with the good: Without Sally Hawkins, this movie would just fall apart. You take her away and anybody could've made this movie. Well, the cinematography definitely scores some points as this is a BEAUTIFUL movie to look at. I also liked that the movie really reached its art-house status, most notably when Hawkins interacts with a homeless guy. Lots of subtlety going on in that one, and this is where her character really takes off.What irked me? The pacing. This is a film that's surprisingly very slow, and it takes a while for you to get used to the main character (since when the title reads "Happy-Go-Lucky", it really delivers upon what it promises). And, maybe this isn't a gripe, but just how depressing that climax was. This film is like eating a piece of cake. It's all sweet, maybe too sweet, and then BAM! It hits you. Yes, the resolution leaves the movie on a positive note, but it's a little too abrupt for you to feel all giddy about yourself again. And also, there were some things left unopened, as the child's past (I thought we could've delved a little deeper into that).All in all, if you're looking to take a walk away from the real world, see the entire thing, skip the climax, and finish watching at the resolution and it's your money well spent. I can't deny the cinematography is gorgeous and the acting is quite up to par, but the direction left me a little underwhelmed to say the least. While I had my gripes here and there, this is a film that maybe isn't deserving of its full acclaim, but it's at least worth a look.