Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

A look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.

Director:

Mike Leigh

Writer:

Mike Leigh

Stars:

Sally Hawkins, Elliot Cowan, Alexis Zegerman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 33 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sally Hawkins	...	Poppy
Elliot Cowan	...	Bookshop Assistant
Alexis Zegerman	...	Zoe
Andrea Riseborough	...	Dawn
Sinead Matthews	...	Alice (as Sinéad Matthews)
Kate O'Flynn	...	Suzy
Sarah Niles	...	Tash
Eddie Marsan	...	Scott
Joseph Kloska	...	Suzy's Boyfriend
Sylvestra Le Touzel	...	Heather
Anna Reynolds	...	Receptionist
Nonso Anozie	...	Ezra
Trevor Cooper	...	Patient
Karina Fernandez	...	Flamenco Teacher
Philip Arditti	...	Flamenco Student

Storyline

Poppy Cross is happy-go-lucky. At 30, she lives in Camden: cheeky, playful, frank while funny, and talkative to strangers. She's a conscientious and exuberant primary-school teacher, flatmates with Zoe, her long-time friend; she's close to one sister, and not so close to another. In this slice of life story, we watch her take driving lessons from Scott, a dour and tightly-wound instructor, take classes in flamenco dance from a fiery Spaniard, encounter a tramp in the night, and sort out a student's aggressive behavior with a social worker's help. Along the way, we wonder if her open attitude puts her at risk of misunderstanding or worse. What is the root of happiness?

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | driving | friend | school | lesson | 

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Taglines:

The one movie this fall that will put a smile on your face.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

MK2 [fr] Momentum Pictures [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

La felicidad trae suerte

Filming Locations:

Holloway Road, Holloway, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$73,867 (USA) (10 October 2008)

Gross:

$3,494,485 (USA) (16 January 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film4, Ingenious Film Partners, Summit Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

At one point, Scott guesses Poppy's age and is - by several years - incorrect. Yet, as he is her driving instructor, he would have seen her provisional driving license (as we see when they first meet), which always has the pupil's date of birth on it.

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Quotes

Title Card: [first lines]
Poppy: [pulls out book from shelf] The Road to Reality...
[smiles and pushes the book back]
Poppy: Don't wanna be going there!
[laughs]

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Connections

Featured in The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2009)

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Soundtracks

"I'm So Excited"
Written by Trevor Lawrence, Anita Pointer, June Pointer, Ruth Pointer
Published and Licensed Courtesy of EMI Music Publishing Ltd

User Reviews

Disappointing

I found Poppy to be annoying and unlikable except when she was with schoolchildren, which was only for a small time. There were a few mildly amusing bits of dialog but nothing particularly funny. The film went nowhere and explained nothing, even though it raised a number of relationship questions that could have been explored. We went to see it because the paper quoted a critic who gave it a 3.5 of 4 stars and said that it would all be explained "sanely." I didn't get it, even after reading several other folks' reviews. The acting was fine, which is why it wasn't a complete bomb, and I didn't walk out in the middle because I kept hoping that something--anything--would eventually become clear, although I was dying to look at my watch every few minutes. We were disappointed in our hopes. (Obviously this is my opinion because others felt that something did become clear.) I and a friend did not stay for the credits, which is very rare, because we just didn't care enough about any of it.