Leigh's 'Happy Go Lucky' a joyless British film

Perky people always have something upbeat to say, a cheerful hello to issue, a compliment to drop.

In times such as these, they are a beacon of light in a storm-tossed sea of bitterness, anger, darkness.

So why do we hate them?

It's a question that hovers over "Happy Go Lucky," an oddball British movie that makes a courageous attempt to profile a woman who lives up to the title, always, in every situation. Like Spongebob, only human.

I say courageous because any sort of comprehensive movie biography carries the implication of, at the very least, mood change. Even your saints, like Norma Rae, succumb to moments of anger or doubt or fleeting selfishness they can later rise above. And actresses line up to play bad girls (see Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married") - Charlize Theron won her Oscar for playing a combination drug addict, hooker and serial killer (three mints in one!)

Bad is interesting. Good can be dull, and cheerful deadly.

So bravo, Sally Hawkins, for tackling the title role "Happy Go Lucky," a title that provokes a laugh if you know it was made by British director Mike Leigh. He's famous in film circles for making movies about unhappy people; in "Naked" he gave us one of the most angry, bilious characters in screen history.

But Poppy (Hawkins) is the polar opposite - upbeat grade school teacher, supportive older sister, kind roommate, life of the party at the local pub.

Leigh smartly sees to it that her flat-mate and younger sister are biting, sarcastic, realistic women - they anchor the movie in a real world, while we watch Poppy float through it unperturbed.

Still, you can't help but wonder when something, or someone, will shake her up.

The most likely candidate is her driving instructor, a tightly wound little man (Eddie Marsan) who's as naturally angry as Poppy is happy. Their scenes together crackle with strange energy, and their matter, anti-matter friction promises an explosion.

After awhile, though, it becomes obvious that Leigh doesn't really have a dramatic goal here. He's famous for putting actors in situations and letting them wing it, and his only aim is to see what interesting shape the actors might create.

It makes for some tasty moments, but it's best not to expect much in the way of resolution. There's a flatness to the way the movie ends, but maybe that's part of the implicit lesson Poppy teaches - movies, like life, are better when you don't expect too much. *

Produced by Simon Channing Williams, written and directed by Mike Leigh, music by Gary Yershon, distributed by Miramax.