Mike Leigh

I’m not sure how I feel about Panavision Mike Leigh. Dick Pope’s cinematography–and the film’s overall color scheme too–is very vibrant. Happy-Go-Lucky is a peppy, bright, Panavision Mike Leigh film. It’s got a loud–good, but loud–score (from Gary Yershon); the score’s peppy too. There’s a very definite arc to the film, with a predictable ending. It’s improvised like the rest of Leigh’s films, but it’s going for a different effect–it’s a comedy. If Hugh Grant showed up in Happy-Go-Lucky , he wouldn’t be at all out of place. In fact, he might even be a good addition to it. The film has a deceptively ... Read Full Story

   I pretty much did not like this at all, but I give it props for Eddie Marsan, in a very memorable role, and Sally Hawkins' annoying but charming Golden Globe winning performance. Eddie Marsan played the villian in Hancock . You might have been thinking 'hey this guy is good; it's too bad he's in a terrible movie' (though you probably weren't, 'cause he was kind of sucky himself). Anyway, Sally Hawkins plays a 'happy-go-lucky' schoolteacher/bachelorette named Poppy (or Polly; that's proper) who can't contain her jubilation for all things in the world, be it a homeless who grunts profound nothingless (to her it ... Read Full Story

Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a quirky, happy, unabashed and optimistic schoolteacher. Happy-Go-Lucky, on DVD March 10th from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Miramax, follows her through a bit of her adult life and shows how she handles every curve ball thrown at her. Her attitude allows her to manage every situation with a little bit of laughter. Happy-Go-Lucky takes place in England and is a British comedy. Luckily, it is easily correlated to American culture and there are no jokes that would go over the typical American's head. Poppy has a colorful group of friends that include her younger and her longtime roommate, ... Read Full Story

Director: Mike Leigh, 2008. How do you approach life? Are you a "glass-half-full" type of person? Or is the glass half-empty? For Poppy Cross (a superb performance from Sally Hawkins), the protagonist, the glass is half-full even when it is almost empty! She looks on the bright side of everything. Mike Leigh sets the tone at the very beginning. Sally locks her bicycle against a railing in Camden, London, and enters a bookstore. The first book she pulls out to look at -- "The Road to Reality." Poppy comments, "Definitely, don't want to go there!" She is living above the level of reality. Then, ... Read Full Story

MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More View the Trailer, Video Clips & Photos Although looks can certainly be deceiving, from the moment we first see the infectious smile and brightly attired Poppy (Sally Hawkins) riding her bicycle through the streets of London, we are instantly drawn in by our heroine. Noteworthy as an unabashedly old-fashioned opening that's reminiscent of vintage MGM golden era films-- we're enchanted within moments of the credit sequence for Mike Leigh's delightfully life-affirming hug of a film, Happy-Go-Lucky . As she greets passersby and waves to others whom we don't see in the overly long extended close-ups, it seems ... Read Full Story