More about Happy-Go-Lucky
Happy Go Lucky
By Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Excerpt, Movies
October 7, 2008
The sunshiny primary-school teacher nicknamed Poppy (Sally Hawkins) in Mike Leigh's exuberant comedy Happy-Go-Lucky is the kind of relentless optimist one might worry about in real life. Doesn't this woman ever stop beaming and twittering? Living with her best friend (an indispensably vibrant Alexis Zegerman) in a cheery boho flat, Poppy experiences theft, a wrenched back, a troubled young student, a deranged homeless man, a hypercritical sister, and a really angry, uptight, apoplectically weird driving instructor (the marvelous Eddie Marsan). And still she laughs. What's wrong with her?
The point is, nothing. The London universe Leigh creates (employing his trademark improv techniques to unite his ensemble, many of whom make their film debuts) isn't so much a reality as a hope...
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