'Happy-Go-Lucky' review

Sally Hawkins (Credit: Simon Mein/Miramax)

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Thirtysomething British schoolteacher Poppy (Sally Hawkins) goes through life with a smile on her face and a joke always at the ready, no matter how challenging her circumstances are. Not even a hostile driving instructor (Eddie Marsan) can alter Poppy's optimistic outlook.

The buzz: Filmmaker Mike Leigh uses extended rehearsal periods to help his actors prepare for shoots where the dialogue and actions are improvised from an outline instead of dictated by a script. He's earned high praise and Oscar nominations for films including "Secrets & Lies," "Topsy-Turvy" and "Vera Drake," while his latest already won star Hawkins an acting prize at the Berlin film festival.

The verdict: A stunning reversal from Leigh's oppressively bleak "Vera Drake," "Happy-Go-Lucky" is a plot-free series of life-affirming sketches and in its own small way poses some very big questions. (What is happiness? Is Poppy's optimism simple naiveté or a survival instinct?) Your tolerance for it all will depend heavily on whether you consider Hawkins' mannered performance insufferably cloying or irresistibly charming. Either way, Leigh's refreshing film delivers a positive message in a rare adult comedy that doesn't play dumb for laughs. By finding humor in everyday life, instead of outrageous situations, Leigh may have lucked on to an art-house hit.

Did you know? Hawkins' breakthrough turn here isn't her first time working for Leigh. The director frequently casts the same actors, and Hawkins had collaborated with him on vastly different roles in "Vera Drake" and "All or Nothing."

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