Get ready for Sally Hawkins, a dynamo of an actress who will have her way with you in Happy-Go-Lucky, leaving you enchanted, enraged to the point of madness and utterly dazzled. No list of the year's best performances should be made without her. You should know right off that this is a Mike Leigh movie. It's a cheerier piece of business than you might expect from the British provocateur behind Naked, Secrets & Lies and Vera Drake, but nonetheless a movie driven by character. Leigh, brought up in…

British director Mike Leigh takes a walk on the bright side in this wonderfully acted but dramatically uneven look at an eternal optimist.

Story

The irresistibly named Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a wide-eyed--accentuate the positive--cheerleader of a school teacher with an attitude that says "I want to be your friend." She is endlessly Happy Go Lucky and even several encounters with those who don't share her optimistic outlook can't seem to knock her down. The film doesn't have a traditional…