taylorjan-63962 I loved reading the poor reviews here, most are funnier than the film's script. I watched the film today and found the lead character very, very annoying. Poppy has a huge problem, she doesn't know when to shut up. In the opening scenes she goes into a book shop and keeps making inane remarks to the sales assistant despite their not engaging with her. I suppose we're to think that he's in the wrong, but we all agreed that she needed to shut up, browse and either buy a book or get out. What does she do? Just keeps prattling on and giggles. Get the point Poppy, the bloke is working. Then she discovers her bike has been stolen and says 'aww I didn't say goodbye'. Smile, giggle. It was then I realised that poor Poppy isn't necessarily happy go lucky, she's just two sandwiches short of a picnic, not the full shilling. And so the film continues with well, nothing happening. We see some great shots of London. One reviewer asks, ooh my gawd are all English streets so narrow? Hilarious. It's a residential area with beautiful victorian treelined streets and this is all they can say. NB: London is an historic city whose suburbs have streets of many widths. Just like any other city in the world.Poppy decides to learn to drive. Unfortunately she can't shut up long enough to listen to instructions. She giggles, gets distracted by squirrels, men, a bird, all whilst sending the poor instructor in a rage. By the third or fouth lesson he's in meltdown. Before the meltdown simple Poppy is shown at school, teaching. Yes despite being a simple soul she's a qualified teacher (god help those poor kids). She intervenes when a bully is discovered in her class, she seeks to discover what is causing the behaviour. Don't worry about the kids being bullied, they're forgotten. The bully is gently questioned and probably sent on a luxury holiday to discourage such behaviour. No more is said about that. Poppy visits her sister's lovely house, which she and her hubby are rightly proud of. Poppy continues driving lessons, has a date with a bloke, laughs, grins, giggles, points at things and..........well that's it. A very simple film portraying a very simple person who can't string a sentence together, makes odd sometimes inappropriate remarks and giggles. Such a strange, boring film. Kept waiting for something interesting to happen. It didn't. Oh nearly forgot the best scenes were when Poppy was trampolining. Just her silly face but no talking. Bliss

bbewnylorac Director/writer Mike Leigh gives us a masterclass in examining the collision of two characters with vastly different approaches to life - resilient social worker Poppy (Sally Hawkins) and her extremely angry-at-life driving instructor Scott (Eddie Marsan). I was reminded of this movie recently when I met a cranky taxi driver who sniped at everything I said, was bitter, resentful, sad, mad, bad, and more than a little weird. I believe this movie actually gave me more insight into people like this - the Scott character is a very lonely guy who is essentially lost. He is trapped in this way of interacting with people that is destructive, alienating and hurtful. And so the other people react to this, and push him away, so he's even more alienated. This is how disgruntled loners end up committing crimes or being reckless and being the brunt of news stories around the world. Scott obviously has major problems that were never addressed. He needs help, and he's not going to get it. One of the most moving scenes is when he stands outside Poppy's window, looking longingly at it. He's thinking that the answer to his problems must be out there, the key to a happier life, but he truly has no idea how to bridge that massive yawning chasm. What empathy is displayed by Mike Leigh in this characterisation. By contrast, the Poppy character is a fully-realised woman living firmly in the practical present, who gets the most out of life and deftly manages people like Scott so that they don't impede her enjoyment of life. You really cheer her on, and you feel for her, too. How lucky she is, indeed, to have acquired the very best approach to life, to make life work for her. But, as others have said, there is a darkness to this movie - maybe she hasn't had quite the misfortune that Scott has in the past, maybe Scott has been dealt more blows than she has along the journey. I would have liked to have been given more information on what caused him to be this way. But it's all interesting food for thought.

SnoopyStyle As the title suggests, Poppy Cross (Sally Hawkins) is happy-go-lucky. She is 30 living in Camden and a school teacher. She is talkative and friendly to a fault. No matter what goes wrong with her life, she remains unflinchingly optimistic. She lives with her best friend Zoe. She tries to learn to drive from angry instructor Scott (Eddie Marsan). One of the kids is a bully and a hot young social worker comes to help.I don't want to come off as being sour, but her unguided happiness annoyed me a little. It's a brilliant performance and the first time I noticed Sally Hawkins. She fully commits to this character. It could have come off as being ditsy but she adds a depth to this character. Mike Leigh is able to give this one note character something more interesting. There's a sad note hiding underneath this character. Eddie Marsan has some fun being the sourpuss and has good funny exchanges. EnRaHa!

werther66 This film sorely fails to capture what it sets out to do. The protagonist "Poppy" is not terribly witty or funny nor does she capture the Free Spirited demeanor director Mike Leigh tries so hard to depict. Poppy is more annoyingly and shallowly giddy throughout the film and her character is quite 'forced.' In the post film commentary, Leigh absurdly says that Poppy comparisons to iconic Hollywood free spirits like Holly Golightly are misinformed since the Poppy character is so much more complex and well-rounded. But Poppy doesn't exhibit a fraction of the CHARM or vulnerability that Holly does which is why generations of audiences have fallen in love with the Audrey Hepburn character. Leigh's simplistic attempts to heavy-handedly demonstrate Poppy's compassion for others also fall flat like when she encounters a schizoid homeless man in an abandoned factory setting. Sure she 'cares' and feels 'bad' for the guy just like she cares feels 'bad' for the driving instructor but nothing she does actually 'helps' either of them. I suppose she does help the angry, belligerent school child who's beating up his fellow class mates due to his dysfunctional family life but what teacher wouldn't intervene is a similar situation? And Poppy's love scene with the quiet, hunk 'social worker' also lacks chemistry and is rather contrived just like her personality. Sally Hawkins nuanced performance in the BBC production of Persuasion was borderline brilliant compared to this unconvincing character portrayal of a gal narcissist who is neither funny, dep nor particularly free spirited.