A kindergarten teacher faces a series of situations with which she deals in a humorous, nonchalant way. Her disposition contrasts with that of her new driving instructor, an uptight, biggoted guy.
Consistently watchable, albeit a little unfocused. The configuration of the characters defies credibility at a few instances, and I will mention two. Firstly, it struck me as odd that Stravinsky's "Firebird" is such a natural and accessible topic of conversation among these characters. It does not fit with any of the cultural environments I have encountered, but then again I do not live in England, and am not the socially wisest person around. Secondly, the driving instructor's argumentation goes all the range from "multiculturalism is non-culturalism" to "the height plus the depth of [a certain American monument] makes 666", and I think this is too wide a range. The first of these statements could fit into an intellectual's mouth, the second one suggests an altogether different cultural background.
Leigh seems to be taking up from another angle the do-gooders theme from Vera Drake. In both, it is suggested that it is hard or impossible to do good to other people, the results being frequently the opposite of the intended. In Happy-Go-Lovely this is examined in conjunction with the theme of happiness as related to attitude as opposed to circumstances. This is of the utmost interest. A film that reportedly deals with this theme, and I have never had the opportunity of seeing, is The Crazy-Quilt (1966).
Rating: 56
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