Review

Review Date: 26-October-08
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

It took me quite a while to connect with Happy-Go-Lucky. Filmmaker Mike Leigh is famous for loosely framing a story and encouraging his actors to improvise as they go along, and for more than half an hour I was conscious of this and wondering if the movie had a point. His leading lady, Sally Hawkins, is introduced as a cheerful Brit named Poppy who does not get angry even when strangers are rude or her bike is stolen. Poppy enjoys a platonic marriage of sorts with a longtime roommate (Alexis Zegerman) and affectionately watches over a drab little sister. She has her job as a preschool teacher and hobbies like social drinking, trampoline workouts, and flamenco lessons. She appears to be your average modern Londoner, though perhaps more bubbly than most.

After I squirmed over the movie's apparent aimlessness and Poppy's native giddiness, the character's own discomforts began to reveal a surprisingly profound message. Having established a heroine of remarkable good nature, Leigh sets about contrasting that nature with the nastiness of life. Poppy encounters not only minor troubles like an aching back, but also serious human frailty and sickness (all described in a natural manner except for an awkward meeting with a bum). The loss of her bike impels her to take driving lessons from a strange and angry little man who becomes obsessed with her. He is played in a fine bit of work by Eddie Marsan, whose riveting, repulsive face has been in high demand for the last couple of years. Poppy also encounters the worst of human sicknesses, child abuse, when she notices a boy acting out in her class. These things dispel any suspicion that her rosy attitude stems from stupidity or ignorance. Her reactions, along with additional information about her background, show that she is wise, compassionate, and only afraid to the point of protecting herself from bodily harm.

At the end of Happy-Go-Lucky I had the wild idea that it should be required viewing for children and teens, people who do not usually watch foreign art house films but who might profit most from an exemplar who stares reality in the face while maintaining the ability to love, smile, and hope for universal redemption. Then, because I am nothing like Poppy, I thought that such a wonderful ability cannot be taught; you either have it or you don't. If that is the case, Leigh's movie is like the chronicle of an angel, with Hawkins providing the pulse to bring the miraculous heroine down to Earth.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.