Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) 4/10
I just can’t enjoy Mike Leigh’s films. I did not enjoy his earlier film Vera Drake, and i was bored by his latest, Happy-Go-Lucky. Despite being critically lauded, I was equal bits bored and annoyed by Leigh’s latest film, Happy-Go-Lucky. Ebert has put this film amongst the best films of the year, but for the hell of me i couldn’t see the charm of this film at all. Sally Hawkins’s performance has been praised as Oscar worthy but i found her character obnoxious and frankly annoying. This is not so much a limitation of Hawkins as an actress, but the role was written such that it is almost impossible not to go over the top and turn into a caricature. Hawkin plays an unnaturally optimistic character, the sort that is so cheery it becomes grating. The misanthropic side of me probably found that portrayal immensely annoying and the film itself plods through at a fairly glacial place. The film could easily be renamed the “Mundane and boring existence of an annoyingly cheery girl”. The only enjoyable scenes were the ones where Hawkins’s character takes driving lessons. All the other scenes are just plain boring.
