Sally Hawkins stars as Pauline 'Poppy' Cross in 'Happy-Go-Lucky'.

Just about every year this decade has had its hyped failures and J-horror extravaganza, but there’s always that one glimmer of hope that makes the otherwise useless pondering worthwhile. 2008 hasn’t been very well-endowed in that sense at all. Sure, it brought us the exhilarating DARK KNIGHT, the hilarious PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, the dementedly awesome BURN AFTER READING, and the realist, semi-tragedic, loosely brooding VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, but when Oscar season comes around (which should be right around now), it doesn’t look like we’ll have much to justify the year’s failure.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, Mike Leigh’s new… pessimistically optimistic film transcends the bickering good vs. evil, pseudo-charismatic rom-com, and “virgin survives” plot structure dished out this year. It’s a film that explores a wide range of emotions and characters, themes, and even genres. It stars Sally Hawkins as Poppy, a character who, without the film’s sardonic examination, would’ve appeared as though conceived through acid. She’s the personification of “high on life” as we know it. She has the uncanny ability of finding a punch-line in even the most dark and brooding situations. Were it not for her sanguine personality and the film’s atmosphere of cheery semblance, I would’ve been shaken by the film as a dark and gloomy experience.

When Poppy’s beloved bike is stolen, rather than lamenting in sorrow, she brushes it off and instead of buying a new bike, she uses her lack of transportation as an incentive to sign up for driving lessons. Unfortunately, she’s partnered up with a repressive and systematically irritated driving instructor. It’s not revealed why he is how he is, but it’s a good choice on the director’s part to avoid an inevitable sappy revelation conclusion. The film doesn’t center around their encounters, it centers around Poppy’s life as she fights through a brigade of unstable losers and lives not for yesterday or tomorrow, but today.

But Poppy isn’t just a “happy machine”. Although I’ve labeled her as a blissful caricature at one point, she’s totally capable of lashing out when provoked to an extent. She’s just as human as you or me, only more altruistic in nature, not as demanding of society, and doesn’t allow failures to bring her down. The troubled people she encounters are unable to keep up with the challenging development of civilization as we know it. They are all the subqualities of the subdued monster veiled inside us all. Many have called her annoying and unrealistic, I call her Strong.

Along with being an enjoyable and deeply affecting picture, it’s a film that subtly reveals its knowledge of human nature without openly analyzing it in your face. Or mine. Powerful stuff.

Absyrd will soon have his own home filled with film and tv reviews, but until then will post a few of his best right here on Emit Graphics. An announcement will be made here when his Absyrd Reviews is released.