eddie marsan Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I have a theory that whether you find Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky utterly annoying or a joy and an inspiration offers an interesting insight to your personality. I once declared in a fit of hyperbole that anyone who didn't love Happy-Go-Lucky or The Brothers Bloom was not anyone I wanted to associate with. I might have also insinuated such people didn't have a soul. And while those statements were rather hasty, I stand by my theory about Poppy, played by Sally Hawkins Maybe you sympathize with Eddie Marsan's angry and needy driving instructor character and think she should have done more to help him. Maybe you think Poppy is another insipid incarnation of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Or maybe you just like structured plots. Me, I was totally happy to trip along with Poppy on her adventures, no matter how nonsensical or ill-advised.

Happy-Go-Lucky, the newest film by director Mike Leigh, has been getting high praise at the Telluride Film Festival for Sally Hawkins' performance as Poppy, a primary school teacher with an optimistic nature. In this clip (see below), Poppy is taking a driving lesson from Scott (Eddie Marsan), a tightly wound driving instructor who's Poppy's polar opposite. The scenes between Poppy and Scott are some of the best and funniest in the film; this one will give you a little taste of it. Happy-Go-Lucky plays at the Toronto International Film Festival before opening in limited release October 10. You can read our full review of the film from Telluride right here.

With his latest effort, Happy-Go-Lucky, director Mike Leigh takes a departure from the dark mood evoked by most of his films with a charming little tale about an eternally optimistic school teacher, Poppy (Sally Hawkins, previously seen in smaller roles in Leigh's films Vera Drake and All or Nothing), who breezes through life, always seeing the glass half full. Poppy is one of those people who never seems to get down about anything. She smiles at surly strangers, strikes up conversations with people who'd clearly prefer to be left alone, and puts a positive spin on everything.

When her bike is stolen, Poppy shrugs it off and decides to take driving lessons; her driving instructor, Scott (Eddie Marsan, also a Leigh alum from Vera Drake) is Poppy's polar opposite. Some of the film's best moments are when she's interacting with Scott and we have the dramatic tension of his simmering anger to contrast with Poppy's perkiness. Scott is intensely uptight, seems to hate everyone and everything, and adheres firmly to the belief that if only everyone would follow a strict set of rules (his rules, of course), all would be well. Naturally, the two clash.

These days, it's all the new-age rage to be positive -- if we do so, the world will be our oyster! It can often seem a bit annoying, and blameful, but if these lessons were wrapped in the Happy-Go-Lucky package, I don't think they'd be as easy to dismiss. You can see a little of what I'm talking about in the trailer above.

Sally Hawkins stars as Poppy -- a school teacher who is insanely positive -- so much so that you rarely see her as anything but. She does her work, and keeps busy with friends and a variety of physical activities -- from trampolines to flamenco dancing. She doesn't let the little stuff get her down, but she doesn't condemn others for not following her positive path. Well, aside from teasing her antithesis -- her driving instructor named Scott (Eddie Marsan).

This tres cute film has been running around the festival circuit, and is headed straight for TIFF next month. Check it out, if you get a chance. Warning: you'll probably feel really silly for all those times you ranted over the little things.

[via The Bad and Ugly]

Now if only my parents made up a poster like this for my Bar Mitzvah, the rest of my adult life probably would've gone in a completely different direction. Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Sixty Six (click to enlarge), starring Eddie Marsan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gregg Sulkin. Directed by Paul Weiland, Sixty Six is an adorable little indie from across the pond about a boy who's life gets turned upside down when his Bar Mitzvah just happens to coincide with the classic 1966 World Cup Final between England and West Germany. It was supposed to be the most important event of his life. Unfortunately for him, it clashed with one of the most important events in the history of his country.

Sixty Six already debuted in the UK, but now it's finally making its way to the states and will arrive in theaters on August 1.

The user-generated movie Faintheart begins shooting in the UK this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The first of its kind, Faintheart was put together via MySpace as the previously announced "MySpace Movie Mashup"; the writer, director, cast and other members of the production were apparently found via calls on the film's MySpace page. Some, such as writer David Lemon and director Vito Rocco, won competitions voted on by members of the networking site and a celeb jury, which included Sienna Miller and Anthony Minghella. Other positions, such as storyboard artist, could be acquired through job postings on the film's MySpace blog. The movie does feature some professional stars, though, including Jessica Hynes (you know her as Shaun of the Dead and Spaced's Jessica Stevenson -- she recently changed her stage name), Trainspotting's Ewan Bremner and Eddie Marsan, who will be making up for this by appearing in Mike Leigh's next film. Now the movie, a romantic comedy centered on the world of Viking battle re-enactments, which is being produced by Vertigo Films and FilmFour, with backing from the UK Film Council and Screen VM, is ready to go.

If we've learned anything from ideas like Project Greenlight and Spielberg's On the Lot, we can assume that the mainstream reception of Faintheart will not be too favorable. After all, the public likes its movies made by executives, businessmen, lucky "talents" and really talented people who have put in their time without success before breaking out. The same thing has been learned with the music business. Just because a person wins American Idol, that doesn't mean he or she is going to have a #1 album (nor does it mean he/she would make a good movie). Sure, the internet has possibly been helpful in suggesting things to filmmakers here and there, but overall, we can't trust people who live on the internet to make important decisions. Can we? There have been other internet-based film competitions, including two involving Spike Lee -- Babelgum's Online Film Festival and LiveMansion: The Movie (which seems to be competing with MySpace for the "first online-community-made" tag -- but obviously MySpace has them all beat with brand recognition. But then I wonder, will Faintheart even use a "MySpace Presents" banner? Regardless of the brand recognition, some people are sure to think such a connection is silly.