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Happy-Go-Lucky
EMAILPRINTMiramax Films (Disney)
Universal acclaim
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 212 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama
Written by: Mike Leigh
Directed by: Mike Leigh
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 10, 2008
DVD: March 10, 2009
Running Time: 118 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language
Starring Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman, Andrea Riseborough, Samuel Roukin, Sinead Matthews, Kate O'Flynn, Sarah Niles, and Eddie Marsan
Just how hard is it to be happy? Poppy is 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"? (Miramax)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: All or Nothing Secrets & Lies Topsy-Turvy Vera Drake
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
I thought "Topsy-Turvy" was perfection, a spirited evocation of the partnership of Gilbert and Sullivan, plus a blithely definitive depiction of the artistic process. Happy-Go-Lucky is perfection too, assuming you go along with its leisurely pace, which I did quite happily.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Leigh and his actors work mysterious magic in Happy-Go-Lucky. This is a movie about hitting the groove of everyday life and, nearly miraculously, getting music out of it.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
The personal triumphs in Happy-Go-Lucky may be small-scale but its embrace is all-encompassing. It's a wonderfully humane movie.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
As refreshing as it is to find a movie that leaves you smiling, it's something much rarer to discover a film that makes you think about what a commitment to happiness really means.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
This is Mike Leigh's funniest film since "Life Is Sweet" (1991). Of course he hasn't ever made a completely funny film, and Happy-Go-Lucky has scenes that are not funny, not at all.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
British director Mike Leigh has made the first great comedy for our new depression.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
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, and an invitation to find joy and grace in everyday moments.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Mr. Leigh has never been an artist for whom happy (word or idea) has been an easy fit. Life is sweet, as the title of another of his films puts it with a heart-swelling yes, but it’s also an eternal fight against doom and gloom, the soul-crushing no.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Leigh pushes the story in a more interesting direction, asking whether people find happiness or simply will it on themselves.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
For all of its laughs and a star-making performance by Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky represents a serious philosophical inquiry by Leigh, who has illustrated a consistently pessimistic view of humankind in his semi-improvised movies.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
There’s something of the harlequin in Leigh’s conception of this bright, manic young woman.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Happy-Go-Lucky isn't one of Leigh's epic social canvases like "Secrets & Lies" or even "Topsy-Turvy"; rather, it's an edgy character study whose message only gradually emerges.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Stays with you like great movies tend to do. It asks you to examine the inner mechanisms of human beings, cheerful and miserable alike. It's not about looking at a glass half empty or a glass half full. It's about drinking down what's in that glass and letting it fill your soul.
Read Full Review >Premiere Jenni Miller
Sally Hawkins offers an Oscar-worthy performance as Poppy, the funny, kind-hearted, and mischievous protagonist.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Nathan Southern
The picture as a whole benefits not merely from the excellent performances, but from its warm emotional core and its infectious love of people, topped off by a mature (though not jaded) sobriety about human limitations that thoroughly validates everything preceding it.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
It is that rare film that is equal parts entertaining, life-affirming and thought-provoking.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
No list of the year's best performances should be made without her (Sally Hawkins).
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
Typically, Leigh withholds his own judgment as to whether Hawkins is a delight or a terror. But he does create a noticeable tension between the audience's expectations and the way the story plays out.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
As is always the case with Leigh's protagonists, Poppy does not fit into a schematic log line, she simply is. She exists with an intensity that few other filmmakers' characters can manage because of the singular way Leigh creates his people.
Read Full Review >NPR Bob Mondello
So relentlessly upbeat that it won't take long before you're wondering just how the director plans to wipe the smile off her face.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Leigh has been giving actors their tongues for decades, and of all his films, Happy-Go-Lucky is the easiest, the least labored.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
The key to enjoying the film is warming up to the heroine, Poppy.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
While any or all of the events related during the course of the film might seem to form the backbone of an unendurably boring motion picture, everything comes alive because of Poppy.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett
As surprising as it is delicious with an indelible performance by new star Sally Hawkins.
Read Full Review >Variety Alissa Simon
Mike Leigh's mellowest work yet, and his most purely entertaining.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker David Denby
The movie is not an argument for chaos; it's an argument for making one's way through life with a relaxed will and an open heart.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
At the very least, the spectacle of Poppy's devotion and desire, not to mention her all-around sunny disposish, left this viewer feeling unaccountably happy--at least for the moment.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
The results are unique in the contemporary cinema -- behavioral honesty and intensity raised to a flash point. If this be comedy, it is so only in the nominal sense that no one dies at the end of the picture.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
While it's being sold as "an effervescent comedy," Happy-Go-Lucky is nothing of the sort. It's rather grim, the laughs are few.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
The trouble is that the movie in which Poppy does, in fact, exist never quite rises to her level.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Is it possible to enjoy the company of the world's most irritating woman? Mike Leigh's surprisingly sunny dramedy makes a pretty good case that, in fact, it is.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt
That's the film's problem: Leigh's creation is fixed and unchangeable, admirably optimistic as a person but completely unengaging as a movie character.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 212 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Shane C gave it a1:
Learned next to nothing about main character (Polly) over the course of the entire film. After an hour felt more irritated by her than interested or engaged. Scott (psychotic driving instructor) was much more interesting but too little of the plot.
Matthew A gave it a9:
What a charming and funny character study. I went into this film not expecting much, but i got a whole lot more out of it than intended. The leisurely pace may not be for all, but for those who stick with the film may get a lot out of it. Sally Hawkins plays "Poppy" a very friendly and good-spirited girl who interacts with a variety of other characters that can be found in our world. Some of these people who she comes in contact with are the exact opposite of her. This makes for very interesting interactions and funny dialogue. I was reading many of the negative reviews on this film and can understand why those people had a problem with it. They just plain don't like Poppy, and wouldn't like to spend more than an hour in her presence. I found her funny and charming, while others (and this i can understand) find her annoying. However, i feel that her character is undeniably valid, and even though you may not like her character, the audience should be willing to take a step into her shoes. The story is all about Poppy's life, so just be a part of it and SMILE!
Rob C. gave it a9:
I loved this film. A refreshing change from your average Hollywood movie, this one made me think during, and after watching it. Some really interesting stuff in it - I think most people can relate to it.
mike gave it a10:
Very good performances. The man who played scott( Eddie Marsan) was very good. The scene where scott confronted poppy(Sally Hawkins) was so mind numbing.
Fabio P. gave it a2:
One of the most overrated movies i've ever seen. I've rented it after reading so many good reviews by the critics, and i was actually astonished by its emptiness. There basically isn't a story: the film is only made by a bunch of sequences (not always related between each other) where Poppy -quite possibly the most annoying carachter i've ever seen in a movie- just keeps on laughing at people with no reason, blabbling nonsense and telling stupid jokes. There's no laughs, no tears, NOTHING in this movie. I just prayed it could end as quickly as possible, and then i was left with the only desire of punching Poppy on her always-smiling face.
Peter H. gave it a7:
This entertaining film from Mike Leigh is more a portrait than a film, but it still holds up as an entertaining comedy.
Dave W gave it a10:
For once a film that leaves me speechless. The best, most subtly intelligent movie I've seen in at least a year. Don't be fooled by the hype -- I hate sentimentality and forced optimism. That didn't get in the way of my loving this film. Great writing and directing combined with an astonishing cast, especially Sally Hawkins.
