Happy-Go-Lucky

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Happy-Go-Lucky

R

2008

1h 58m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

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161 Reviews

67%

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25,000+ Ratings

Teacher Poppy Cross (Sally Hawkins) is an eternal optimist who lives with her more cynical friend Zoe (Alexis Zegerman). Deciding she wants to learn to drive, she starts taking lessons from Scott (Eddie Marsan), a tense and downbeat instructor who believes Poppy's levity reflects a lack of seriousness. Although they clash, Poppy is not deterred from her goal. Meanwhile, she starts dating Tim, a social worker who came to her school to help a child.

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Critics Consensus

Mike Leigh's latest partially-improvised film is a light-hearted comedy with moments that bite, and features a brilliant star turn by Sally Hawkins.

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Amy Biancolli

Houston Chronicle

Oct 31, 2008

4/4

I've never used this clich in a review before, and God forbid I ever use it again, so pay close attention: Happy-Go-Lucky is the feel-good movie of the year.

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Tom Long

Detroit News

Oct 31, 2008

B+

Sally Hawkins, in a blinding, Oscar-worthy piece of acting so good you barely see it, plays Poppy, a perpetually upbeat elementary schoolteacher in London.

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Josh Rosenblatt

Austin Chronicle

Oct 30, 2008

2/5

Leigh's creation is fixed and unchangeable, admirably optimistic as a person but completely unengaging as a movie character.

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Jeremy Carr

Vague Visages

Nov 16, 2023

Mike Leigh’s 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky, one of the most joyous of movies and one of the year’s very best, is a breezy two-hour character study that seems to have the vibrantly unfettered cheer of a coloring book as its foundational text.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Feb 14, 2022

4/4

Happy-Go-Lucky shows a different method of survival than viewers of Leigh's cinema are accustomed, though it is no less serious nor funny than any of his other work.

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Charlotte Harrison

Charlotte Sometimes Goes to the Movies

Jun 1, 2021

Possessing an irrefutable optimism that tends to exasperate those arounds her, Hawkins is a true joy to watch in this wonderful gem of a movie.

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Sam J

@Sam76543 Mar 14, 2026

It is a great reminiscence of late nineties early noughties London life. The film plot is fairly weak, the main character, two dimensional and very annoying. The supporting cast came across as far more interesting people and better developed characters. I think it could have been a more interesting film if Poppy had been allowed to drop the silly giggly girl trope, and cereal box psychology, but it did capture a moment the spirit of that time well, and so worth the time to watch if only for the nostalgia.

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Martin W

@Marty772 Feb 18, 2025

Moronic drivel for half wits!

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Julian S

@akajulianscott Jan 16, 2025

Poppy’s driving lessons are the film’s standout moments, defined by intense tension, layered complexity, and an ever-present sense of uncertainty about what will happen next.

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Beth K

@RT95569497 Jan 8, 2025

Sally Hawkins was SO irritating I was only sorry that the driving instructor didn't manage to give her a good slapping.

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Los G

@RT08187295 Jan 1, 2025

Sally Hawkins does a truly incredible job of creating a totally believable character: sadly, it's a very annoying character! Eddie Marsan, on the other handed, is landed with the job of trying to inhabit one of the worst drawn characters I've ever seen on film. It barely manages to rise to the level of one-dimensional. And, of course, nothing happens. Remove Mike Leigh's name from this and it would have sunk (despite Hawkin's brilliant performance)

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May 17, 2024

Sally Hawkins has never acted so wonderfully and energetically as she does here she totally steals the screen its a trying film that attempts to lift up people's spirits and let happyness run its course despite the limitations and obstacles we face there's no harm in bringing a smile to someone's face a true testament saying we can’t make everyone happy but there’s no harm in trying

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Mike Leigh

Director

Sally Hawkins

Poppy

Alexis Zegerman

Zoe

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Synopsis

Teacher Poppy Cross (Sally Hawkins) is an eternal optimist who lives with her more cynical friend Zoe (Alexis Zegerman). Deciding she wants to learn to drive, she starts taking lessons from Scott (Eddie Marsan), a tense and downbeat instructor who believes Poppy's levity reflects a lack of seriousness. Although they clash, Poppy is not deterred from her goal. Meanwhile, she starts dating Tim, a social worker who came to her school to help a child.

Director: Mike Leigh
Producer: Simon Channing Williams, Georgina Lowe
Screenwriter: Mike Leigh
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Thin Man Films, UK Film Council, Summit Entertainment
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 10, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.5M
Runtime: 1h 58m

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