Happy Go Lucky (2008) Critic Reviews

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 the full review

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 the full review

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 the full review

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 the full review

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 the full review

No list of the year's best performances should be made without her (Sally Hawkins).Read the full review

The key to enjoying the film is warming up to the heroine, Poppy.Read the full review

The trouble is that the movie in which Poppy does, in fact, exist never quite rises to her level.Read the full review

As surprising as it is delicious with an indelible performance by new star Sally Hawkins.Read the full review