Happy-Go-Lucky

Happy-Go-Lucky

2008, dir. Mike Leigh; star. Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsam
1 hour 57 min

Steph and I saw Happy-Go-Lucky Saturday night at a packed house at the Bytowne. We split a popcorn and diet pepsi.

Happy-Go-Lucky, as the title suggests, is a upbeat (Steph felt TOO upbeat) film about a 30 year old woman named Poppy living in London working as a kindergarten teacher. Nothing seems to bother this woman much, and she manages to stay happy ALL THE TIME. Really, it's kind of disturbing. Sally Hawkins is pretty good as Poppy, and Eddie Marsam plays her disgruntled (and blatantly racist) driving instructor.

This film was definitely less of a downer that Miek Leigh's last film, Vera Drake, which was about a woman giving out illegal abortions during World War II in England.

4 stars out fo 5

Upcoming movies in the next week

Thursday: Ghostbusters in playing at the Bytowne; definitely going to check that one out. I beleive it may be a charity showing too, plus, since unlike last year, the Bytowne isn't playing any Halloween movies, I guess this is as close as it gets.



Friday: Opening in Ottawa - The Changling (dir. Clint Eastwood, star. Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Guy Pearce) [probably going to see]



- Happy-Go-Lucky (dir. Mike Leigh, star. Sally Hawkins) [will maybe see]



- Zack and Miri Make a Porno (dir. Kevin Smith, star. Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks) [will defnitely see]



Monday: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is playing at the Bytowne. Probably going to skip that one.

Psycho

Saw this Monday night at the Bytowne. Had the usual problems of older prints, with the sections near the ends of each reel being pretty rough, but the rest of the film was in good shape. Prints probably came from the re-release these Hitchcock films got 20 years ago when Universal bought part of the Hitchcock library.

Maybe it's just me, but I never found much of this film to be funny, intentionally or not. But there were plenty of laughs in the audience, which I've come to expect at the Bytowne lately. The second murder (won't spoil it) comes off as more jolting on the big screen than I've ever felt before (and Hitchcock didn't even direct that sequence; he was sick that day).

Overall, one of my 5 favorite Hitchcocks, and it was great to see it on the big screen.

5 stars out of 5

Fun Fact: Supposedly, this is the first Hollywood film to show a flushing toilet.