Mike Leigh's latest film is all about happiness, which is perhaps a departure for the man who made "Vera Drake" and "Secrets and Lies". At the centre of this are two characters. One is the endlessly optimistic Poppy and the other is the dismally angry Scott. One is a triumph for the film and the other is a matter of taste.
The film is all about Poppy, played with skill by Sally Hawkins. She is quite unbelievably happy and cheery in her outlook on life. Now, some may be able to deal with this kind of character for a long period of time. Others (this reviewer included) couldn't deal with her after the first ten minutes, let alone for the whole two hours and were thoroughly irritated. The opinion is going to differ from person to person, but if you're in the latter group then you might struggle with this film.
The other side of the coin is Scott, which is another standout performance from the much underrated Eddie Marsan. His absolute nuttiness is easy to laugh at, but this character has a degree of depth that runs throughout the course of the film, whereas Poppy's moments are only intermittent. When Marsan is on screen, you cannot tear your eyes from him.
The film itself is rather inconsequential for the majority, with moments of interest far outweighed by periods of annoyance. The film is well acted (Hawkins' realisation of Poppy is excellent even if you do find her character to be aggravating) and there are moments of humour, and it is quite diverting, though never really interesting.
And then, right at the end, there is a magnificent scene where Marsan and Hawkins are spectacular. It is interesting, detailed and wonderfully done. It isn't quite worth the preceding 100 minutes, but it demonstrates the film's strengths: good acting, good writing and terrific character direction. The problem is there simply aren't enough of these moments.
The film is all about Poppy, played with skill by Sally Hawkins. She is quite unbelievably happy and cheery in her outlook on life. Now, some may be able to deal with this kind of character for a long period of time. Others (this reviewer included) couldn't deal with her after the first ten minutes, let alone for the whole two hours and were thoroughly irritated. The opinion is going to differ from person to person, but if you're in the latter group then you might struggle with this film.
The other side of the coin is Scott, which is another standout performance from the much underrated Eddie Marsan. His absolute nuttiness is easy to laugh at, but this character has a degree of depth that runs throughout the course of the film, whereas Poppy's moments are only intermittent. When Marsan is on screen, you cannot tear your eyes from him.
The film itself is rather inconsequential for the majority, with moments of interest far outweighed by periods of annoyance. The film is well acted (Hawkins' realisation of Poppy is excellent even if you do find her character to be aggravating) and there are moments of humour, and it is quite diverting, though never really interesting.
And then, right at the end, there is a magnificent scene where Marsan and Hawkins are spectacular. It is interesting, detailed and wonderfully done. It isn't quite worth the preceding 100 minutes, but it demonstrates the film's strengths: good acting, good writing and terrific character direction. The problem is there simply aren't enough of these moments.