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Happy-Go-Lucky
Miramax Films (Disney)

Happy-Go-Lucky reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 84 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.0 out of 10
based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 29 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA 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)


GENRE(S): Comedy  |  Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Mike Leigh  
DIRECTED BY: Mike Leigh  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: October 10, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 118 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

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...

100
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
100
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.
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100
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.
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100
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.
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100
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Won't break your heart -- it will make it soar.
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100
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.
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100
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
British director Mike Leigh has made the first great comedy for our new depression.
Read Full Review
91
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
90
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
90
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.
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88
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.
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88
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
There’s something of the harlequin in Leigh’s conception of this bright, manic young woman.
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88
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.
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88
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.
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88
Premiere Jenni Miller
Sally Hawkins offers an Oscar-worthy performance as Poppy, the funny, kind-hearted, and mischievous protagonist.
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88
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.
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88
USA Today Claudia Puig
It is that rare film that is equal parts entertaining, life-affirming and thought-provoking.
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88
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
No list of the year's best performances should be made without her (Sally Hawkins).
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83
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
80
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.
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80
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.
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80
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.
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75
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
It's a powerful argument for optimism.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
The key to enjoying the film is warming up to the heroine, Poppy.
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75
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.
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70
The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett
As surprising as it is delicious with an indelible performance by new star Sally Hawkins.
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70
Variety Alissa Simon
Mike Leigh's mellowest work yet, and his most purely entertaining.
Read Full Review
70
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.
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70
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.
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70
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.
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67
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.
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60
Slate Dana Stevens
The trouble is that the movie in which Poppy does, in fact, exist never quite rises to her level.
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60
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
40
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

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John gave it a10:
Fantastic, one of the best of the year!

Patrick M gave it a1:
The Slate review does say it best, though only toward the end: nothing of consequence happens in this movie. The main character (characterized flatly by Hawkins' strained study in obnoxious and defensive optimism) changes nothing and is changed by nothing. The script provides plenty of opportunities for conflict and even, hey, direction, but still somehow eschews either. Garbage.

John gave it a10:
Easily one of the best films of the year!

David gave it a10:
Some of these scores just further confirm to me of the dumbing down of America! People are so used to being fed garbage by Hollywood they can't appreciate a great film!!! I mean really some of these comments? "What's this movie about?" Huh? I really don't think it's that hard to understand. Anyway, I hope to see some Oscar nominations for this, it is highly deserving.

Jim R. gave it a9:
This slice of life/character study by Mike Leigh gains an extra dimension from the question posed: what makes someone happy? But don't expect a traditional plot.

tj gave it an8:
I think a lot of people just won't get this movie because it really isn't plot driven...so not much happens. Mike Leigh writes great dialogue...but it's low-key, slice of life writing. Don't expect any great drama or goofy, over the top comedy. My friend and I laughed a lot, but I noticed we were the only ones laughing. I think a lot of Americans are baffled by this type of film. I'm not sure why people have to love everything about the main character. If real life bores you then don't go.

Randy C. gave it a9:
I found the film to be incredibly funny and uplifting. The narrative style is non-traditional. Very little conflict, so for some it may seem boring. I was mesmerized by the organic quality of the acting, directing and camerawork. Sally Hawkins' performance was my fave of the year so far.

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