Some Thoughts on "Happy-Go-Lucky"
It's been several weeks now since I first saw Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky (Miramax, 10.10), and I've been trying to put together some coherent thoughts about it ever since.
The truth is I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I respected the film for what it was - a light on its feet serio-comedy about a young grade school teacher with an irrepressibly positive outlook on life. On the other hand, she began to wear on me after a while, becoming more insufferable than charming.
I don't think I would fully embrace Jeff Wells' negative take on the film, with its allusions of Poppy's "emotional fascism," but I agree with his basic point. I ultimately found her to be immature, unfit to be in charge of children because emotionally she is a child herself - she seems wholly unable to take anything seriously, until the end of the film when the bitter unhappiness of her beleaguered driving instructor (Eddie Marsdan) comes to a boiling point, and she realizes that she can't make everyone happy.
Up until that point however, she greats every trial and every hint of unhappiness with a sing-songy joke that would make me want to strangle her if I spent any length of time around her. Leigh acknowleges that you can't make everyone happy, but the distance between Marsdan's hateful driving teacher and Poppy's bubbliness is vast - they are two extremes of the same spectrum, and I found it hard to root for a character who is so singularly oblivious of people's emotions around her. It's almost as if she can't grasp that everyone else doesn't feel the way she does. Until the end she's the epitome of a one note character.
Leigh's last film, Vera Drake, was one of my top five films of 2004. It's a grimly powerful film that I have great respect for, especially Imelda Staunton's stunning performance. Happy-Go-Lucky, on the other hand, seems so slight in comparison. I know it's like comparing apples and oranges, but Leigh's human insight doesn't seem to be as keenly displayed here, and the emotional impact lessened as a result.
I plan on seeing the film at least once more before it is released in theaters and I write my final review, so maybe I will feel differently by then. But as of right now my respect for the film comes with great reservations.
The truth is I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I respected the film for what it was - a light on its feet serio-comedy about a young grade school teacher with an irrepressibly positive outlook on life. On the other hand, she began to wear on me after a while, becoming more insufferable than charming.I don't think I would fully embrace Jeff Wells' negative take on the film, with its allusions of Poppy's "emotional fascism," but I agree with his basic point. I ultimately found her to be immature, unfit to be in charge of children because emotionally she is a child herself - she seems wholly unable to take anything seriously, until the end of the film when the bitter unhappiness of her beleaguered driving instructor (Eddie Marsdan) comes to a boiling point, and she realizes that she can't make everyone happy.
Up until that point however, she greats every trial and every hint of unhappiness with a sing-songy joke that would make me want to strangle her if I spent any length of time around her. Leigh acknowleges that you can't make everyone happy, but the distance between Marsdan's hateful driving teacher and Poppy's bubbliness is vast - they are two extremes of the same spectrum, and I found it hard to root for a character who is so singularly oblivious of people's emotions around her. It's almost as if she can't grasp that everyone else doesn't feel the way she does. Until the end she's the epitome of a one note character.
Leigh's last film, Vera Drake, was one of my top five films of 2004. It's a grimly powerful film that I have great respect for, especially Imelda Staunton's stunning performance. Happy-Go-Lucky, on the other hand, seems so slight in comparison. I know it's like comparing apples and oranges, but Leigh's human insight doesn't seem to be as keenly displayed here, and the emotional impact lessened as a result.I plan on seeing the film at least once more before it is released in theaters and I write my final review, so maybe I will feel differently by then. But as of right now my respect for the film comes with great reservations.
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