Happy-Go-Lucky & In Bruges
I have to say its been an increasingly difficult task to actually identify any movies which seem to be worth a couple of hours and ten quid of my time. We’re on the cusp of summer what with ‘Iron Man‘ being released on Friday and ‘Indiana Jones‘ is now just round the corner but I felt I had to make an effort last weekend and give some films I’m not terribly interested in a whirl if only to maintain the cinema visit quota.
I quite like Mike Leigh so it’s a shame to report that his latest film ‘Happy-Go-Lucky‘ is a disappointment. The film is the story of Poppy, a 30 year old London based primary school teacher who seems cursed with a cheerful disposition and cheery outlook on life. When her bike is stolen she shrugs it off as ‘that’s life’, she talks to anyone and everyone who crosses her path to encourage a smile and a joke, she’s one of those people who would verbally chastise you that ‘It takes more energy to frown than to smile’ on the crowded 7:48 to Paddington.
Sounds hideous doesn’t she? I was wary of making the effort of seeing this at the cinema as the central character sounded so staggeringly annoying that I wondered if I could manage two hours in her company. She is of course irritating but to be honest I must have been in a rare conciliatory mood as I could stomach her relentless optimism. The film meanders - Poppy begins some flamenco classes and discovers that one of her pupils is being physically abused by his stepfather. This leads her to develop a relationship with the social worker assigned to the case whilst throughout the film she is taking driving lessons with the surly Scott, a serious minded driving instructor.
The main flaw is the usual climax that a Leigh film reaches – after the slightly hyper and mannered approach of Poppy and company in the previous two hours the film suddenly switches to absolute realism as she finally understands the attitude and actions of Scott in a shocking penultimate scene. Scott is a diluted version of violent conspiracy theorist Jonny in Leigh’s best film ‘Naked’ (which criminally is still not available on DVD) and his final revelation and outburst is quite unaffecting after his previous ramblings on how the ‘world actually works’, its ‘pyramids and elites’ and his thinly concealed racism and seething anger. At two hours it’s also much to long to arrive at its shrug inducing finale, although it does have a couple of good gags.
‘In Bruges‘ however was a much more rewarding experience. The film is a bit of a sleeper critical hit, some reviews have been very positive but the marketing for the film seems to have been very low key and I think I can see why – although exceptionally funny it is also a very dark story on the nature of guilt and retribution framed on the fate of two bumbling Irish assassins (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason) who flee Dublin to Bruges after a hit goes spectacularly wrong. As they await instructions from their criminal masters both slowly warm to the medieval city, meeting members of a local film crew including a drug dealing production assistant and prostitute addicted dwarf - conventional this is not. Ralph Fiennes makes quite an impression toward the end of the film as the psychotic east end crime boss Harry which he plays in a manner more akin to Kingsley in ‘Sexy Beast’ than Hoskins in ‘The Long Good Friday’. There is some spectacular swearing and very funny gags all complemented by a particularly oirish sensibility which a half-mick like me appreciated. Worth a spin.
Finally some terrific news – Del Toro has been officially announced as the director of the Hobbit movies, I can’t think of a more able and appropriate director. From the sounds of things he is anxious to retain as much of the original creative crew as possible which is very encouraging and I like some of the other intimations he makes in that interview. Given that McKellen and Serkis are back as Gandalf and Gollum respectively I think the only other concern is who will play Bilbo? Roll on 2010…
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