Happy-Go-Lucky

Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a cheerful kind of person. Insanely cheerful. Nothing can get Poppy down. She goes through life with a smile on her lips and open arms.

Before seeing this movie, I had heard that some people find Poppy annoying. Being a rather cynical person myself, I was worried I would too. I needn’t have worried though; I found Poppy to be absolutely charming and delightful to spend time with. She’s just so carefree; even when her bicycle gets stolen, she just shrugs and says sadly “I didn’t even get to say goodbye” before moving on with her day.

Poppy surrounds herself with friends, and I very much enjoyed those scenes. They seemed natural and organic, and I didn’t mind just spending time with them. Poppy works as a primary school teacher, and we get some good scenes in her classroom too, showing off her unusual teaching methods.

Then there’s the driving instructor (a brilliant Eddie Marsan) who is clearly dealing with some anger issues. There’s a lot of comedy from those scenes, but Leigh also seems to examine the two separate ways of life; Poppy with her cheerful disposition and Scott with his deep anger. Is it ok to go through life like this?

My favourite scene of the lot was when Poppy wanders into what appears to be an abandoned construction site late at night. She meets a homeless man, who is most likely mentally unstable. Instead of shying away from him though, Poppy talks to him. It was a wonderful scene.

In the end, I just really liked spending time with Poppy, and the movie was insightful and put me in a good mood.