Of course, not everyone is enamored by Poppy's peppiness. They keep a form view on life while Poppy has a positive outlook, regardless of the situation.
Leigh provides a portrait of an average woman's everyday life. Poppy goes through her day with a smile practically glued on her face. You know the saying smile and the world smiles with you? Doesn't exactly apply to Poppy.
Indeed, Poppy's constant happiness does wear on after a while. It takes time to get used to it. Once you do, she is a nice presence in the film. A far cry from some of the characters in Leigh's other films, don't you think?
All in all, I liked Happy-Go-Lucky. Not as much as the other Leigh films I saw, but still as good. Hawkins is very lively and again, it's a nice change of pace from other films released in recent years.
My Rating: ****1/2
I think I like this movie so much because it is so unlike all of this other movies, and Poppy is so wildly different from most of the other characters in Leigh's films, like you said. Glad you're enjoying your Leigh marathon!
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge of Leigh is extremely limited - this sounds optimistic, though.
ReplyDeleteNice marathon.
Yes, she's the polar opposite of many Leigh characters. :-) I really liked this character and this film. I think my favorite part was her encounter with the homeless man. There was something so quietly powerful about that scene.
ReplyDeleteI literally just watched this. I have to say, if I had been trying to teach her how to drive a car she would have made me nuts, too. I liked her character other than those scenes, though.
ReplyDelete