I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The main character is supposed to be a happy go lucky ray of sunshine, but if you look deeper you will see she is nothing but a nasty bully. She doesn't care who gets hurt as long as she can laugh about it. The Flamenco dancer lets everyone know that dancing is her passion and her life, what does Poppy do? Completely ruin the sessions and leaves her in tears. Marsan is an introverted chap whose only achievement is being a good driving instructor. Poppy by refusing to listen to him causes numerous problems and manages to ruin the one thing he is good at. Happy go LuckY? No a nasty little bully who cares for no one around her.

I am rating this film 10 out of 10 because Sally Hawkins manages to charm the pants off anybody who watches this film. It's buoyant, funny and a little bit sad in places (although not courtesy of the bubbly character of Poppy played by Hawkins) This is a refreshing change from other Mike Leigh films which are very hard hitting and at times really sad. This film is buoyant and funny and yet at times it also has a measure of sadness. There is a wily cleverness to Poppy, who is not only optimistic, she is able to assess and intuit the emotions of those around her. So rather than empty, bimbo-like optimism there is a lot of depth, compassion and likability to her character. Any relatively optimistic and chirpy person, who has experienced being brought down a few pegs by life, can relate to this movie. In a subtle way it reminds me of Amelie, but a very British version of it.

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!

This film has a main character that will split opinion right down the middle: You'll either find her non-stop sunny optimism whimsically charming, or you'll want to throttle her after the first 5 minutes. I myself was won over by her ability to see the best in everything and general love of life, though she did sound a bit like a female Stephen Merchant. Without being an irritating, smug lanky git of course...Directed by the acclaimed Mike Leigh, it also touches on darker themes, such as child abuse, homelessness and the dangers of isolationism.The latter is aptly demonstrated in several heated arguments between our heroine and her joyless, aggressive, conspiracy theorist driving instructor, who is as mad as a March hare.Listening to him ranting on in contrast to the protagonist's humorous candour,you wonder: who on EARTH would choose to be like this unlovely man rather than the happy, chatty lady? Alas, plenty are, and I would bet a lot of them live near me... 7/10