TIFF 08: Happy Go Lucky

 As to be expected with late in film festival public screenings, the director and lead are not likely going to be on hand for the 2nd or third screening. Too bad because I’m sure Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins would have received a standing O from the crowd I was with. My first of two Brit films for the day, the early morning screening for Miramax’s Happy Go Lucky proved to be a solid bet. Leigh’s comedy (yes comedy) starts off slow, but picks up past the sequence where the cheery protag has this odd exchange with a homeless person. Sally Hawkins is contagious, vibrant and is a different kind of eye candy for a big screen character. Hawkins’s Poppy grows on you. To be released next month, Review coming soon.