Disclaimer - if you start reading this and wonder why I tagged you in some random movie review, it's because the movie is sort of a teacher movie. Thought some of my b. ed buddies might be interested!
It's Oscar season, so I've been watching a lot of movies lately. I don't plan on writing reviews for all these films, because a) I don't consider myself to be a very good movie critic and b) I don't feel like it. I will be writing a couple of posts shortly before the Oscars, and I have a cool idea for how I'm going to present my picks, so stay tuned.
The reason I decided to write a review of Happy-Go-Lucky is that it's the kind of movie you probably wouldn't watch otherwise. It's not particularly well-known 'round these parts, since it's a British film with no Hollywood stars. Mike Leigh is an acclaimed writer/director who's been nominated for 5 Academy Awards, but honestly, have you heard of him?
My favourite part of this movie (with apologies to lead actress Sally Hawkins) is Leigh's screenplay, particularly the dialogue. Okay, it's pretty much exclusively because of the dialogue, but it sounds more professional to say "screenplay". I'll admit, I have trouble gauging how well-written a movie is using any criteria other than dialogue, because it seems to me most other aspects of a film are part of the director's domain (who is also Leigh, but let's not complicate things). I won't get into this discussion any further, because I plan on doing just that when I make my Oscar picks in a few weeks.
Anyway, back to the screenplay, I mean dialogue. I've seen most of the big comedies of the year: Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, etc. Unlike those movies, Happy-Go-Lucky has no overweight naked dudes, white guys playing black guys, or overweight naked dudes. And yet, despite the instant hilarity of those things, Happy is probably the movie that made me laugh out loud more than any other. This is, as you've surely figured out by now, a result of its fast-paced clever British dialogue, much of which is superbly executed by lead actress Sally Hawkins.
Hawkins plays Poppy Cross, a 30-year old primary school teacher whose personality is perfectly captured by the film's title. She's bubbly and optimistic, almost to a fault, the kind of person who wants to make everyone around her happy. As she discovers, though, this isn't always possible. Hawkins is fantastic in the role, and by the way, she's winning everything for it.
The movie also deals with issues in education, albeit tangentially. Now, the movie isn't a "teacher movie" per se (for those in section Q, it wouldn't make the cut on Ralph's list). The way I see it, there are generally two types of teacher/school movies - those whose plots focus on teachers or issues in education (Dead Poet's Society, Stand and Deliver, etc. i.e. Ralph's list), and those which just so happen to include school in some form, whether it be the movie's setting (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) or one or more of its characters (Billy Madison). Happy-Go-Lucky is in the rare middle ground: a fairly significant plot element revolves around a particularly troubled child in Poppy's class, but the purpose of these scenes is to set up a more important part of the plot which is not related to education.
All in all, I give the film a hearty thumbs up and encourage everyone to check it out (even non-teachers!) It's certainly in the running for a couple Xacademy Xawards, to be released in a few short weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment