So since this is my first movie review I’m going to lay out some notes to remember when reading my reviews.
1- They shall be quite short and to the point- hopefully.
2- I’m going to try and reference some other movies to help you gauge if you will enjoy the movie.
3- Be aware these are my opinions and you can totally disagree, but there’s no need to say so. But if you agree you can comment with whatever you like. This isn’t to censor, I just thought some people might want to know what I thought about certain films.
4- Feel free to recommend a film for me to review.
5- I will also throw it into a category to better help you decide to see or not see a film.
The categories are:
1) Feel Good (FG)
2) Depressing (D)
3) Entertaining (ET)
4) Inspiring (IN)
5) Visually amazing (VA)
6) Terrible story (TS)

HAPPY GO LUCKY

directed by Mike Leigh

starring Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman and Samuel Roukin

(FG and IN)
This movie is about a girl named Sally who for lack of a better term is quite happy go lucky. She is so happy all of the time that it’s almost unbearable. She is a 30 year old primary school teacher that is single and lives with her best friend. For the most part she is surrounded by people who are quite normal and have their share of melancholy days. She is such an exhuberant charcater that you can’t avoid liking her, laughing with her and predicting her responses. She is quite flighty and whimsical, so much so that having her bike stolen barely puts a pause in her step. Sally is very quick to try anything and does so what with her trampolining, bike riding, flamenco classes and driving lessons. She takes life as it comes and it makes you smile inside. The true humor and drama comes when she meets people with different approaches to moving through life. Their juxtaposition makes not only the story instantly suck you in deeper but your soul stops and really pays attention to Sally and the other characters in these moments. You’ll also find that her inability to be offended lends itself to be a tool in noticing what is wrong with the world. The director, Mike Leigh is known for amazing films but this film contains some of the most realistic and in depth characters/acting performances I’ve ever seen. By the end you may find that Sally’s personality has rubbed off on you. This funny and heartwarming story will have you smiling with a deep “soul-smile” and have you wanting to stand and give the film an affirming round of applause.

One thing to note about Mike Leigh is his approach to filmmaking. If you’re not aware of his style you might be quite amazed and satisfied. He doesn’t actually write a script but comes up with a plot and characters. He then casts the film and workshops these characters with the actors for months and then shoots the entire film, still without a script. A great majority of his films are total improve that was created during the workshopping process. This is how he is able to create such captivating and dynamic characters that drive his films.

If you’re a fan of dry humor and whimsical story-lines you will like this film.

If you like any of the below movies, you will like this film.

REFERENCES:
-Toy Story
-Lars and the real girl
-Edward Scissorhands
-Shaun of the Dead

I will label this film under my “Feel Good” category.