Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh, 2008

Leigh's film is of a piece with Woody Allen's best work. Happy Go Lucky positively hurtles through its 100 or so minutes, not on the strength of any discernable plotting, but rather on the assuredness of Sally Hawkins' magnetic lead performance, the razor edged crispness of Leigh's dialogue, and the presence of a bevy of fully realized, naturalistic set pieces.