“Happy-Go-Lucky” (2008)
Sally Hawkins was bruited about as a likely best actress nominee for her role as Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky, but didn’t make the final list. It’s a great performance, though, in director Mike Leigh’s odd little movie that’s more deep character sketch than a coherent story.
Hawkins as Poppy is simultaneously fascinating, likeable, and annoying. She’s so upbeat, and so little brought down by the things that wear on others, that she seems almost surreal. The supporting characters, including a sympathetic flat mate, tightly wound driving instructor, stunningly cute social worker, and her class full of elementary kids, all serve to highlight this bizarrely enchanting character. Fair warning: my husband G. Grod gave up part way in when he couldn’t discern a plot and started to fall asleep. I feel asleep about half way through, in a strange and difficult scene between Poppy and a homeless man. Worth watching but not if you’re looking for a story with a beginning, middle and end, or feeling sleepy.
This was the seventh dvd that came into the library for me in the past three weeks, and the thirty-third movie I’ve watched this year. When it rains, it pours. I’m hoping to get back to more reading and writing soon. We’ll see if I can manage that.
April 8th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
More accurately, I fell asleep several times in the first 30 minutes.
Maybe it is time we joined netflix again.
April 10th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Oh, yes, Netflix, where movies can come in even more frequently, we have to pay for them, and impulse choice is encouraged. *shudder* I know my limits, and Netflix is beyond them. I tell myself I can join Netflix again when we’ve watched a majority of our impulse-bought dvds at home and impulse-recorded movies on Tivo, which we never get to anyway because we’re watching new TV, doing something else, or watching a movie that came in at the library.
I’d bet on never. Unless I break down and do it on impulse. In which case, it might very well happen tomorrow. Sigh.