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Happiness [1999]


RRP: £19.99
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

At times brilliant and insightful, at times repellent and false, Happiness is director Todd Solondz's multi-story tale of sex, perversion and loneliness. Plumbing depths of Crumb-like angst and rejection, Solondz won the Cannes International Critics Prize in 1998 and the film was a staple of nearly every critic's Top 10 list. Admirable, shocking, and hilarious for its sarcastic yet strangely empathetic look at consenting adults' confusion between lust and love, the film stares unflinchingly until the audience blinks. But it doesn't stop there. A word of strong caution to parents: One of the main characters, a suburban super dad (played by Dylan Baker), is really a predatory paedophile and there is more than an attempt to paint him as a sympathetic character. Children are used in this film as running gags or, worse, the means to an end. Whether that end is a humorous scene for Solondz or sexual gratification for the rapist becomes largely irrelevant. Happiness is an intelligent, sad film, revelatory and exact at moments. It's also abuse in the guise of art. That's nothing to celebrate. --Keith Simanton

Editorial
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Editorial
Synopsis

Building on the darkly comic angst of WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, Todd Solondz's HAPPINESS conveys suburban desperation and frustration on a larger scale than his previous film. The ensemble cast of characters centers around the lives of three sisters: Joy (Jane Adams), an awkward, naive, and unlucky musician; Helen (Lara Flynn Boyle), a beautiful, self-obsessed writer; and Trish (Cynthia Stevenson), a conservative housewife who is married to Bill (Dylan Baker), a psychiatrist harboring an unhealthy fascination for young boys. Other dysfunctional characters include the sisters' unhappy parents, Lenny and Mona Jordan (Ben Gazzara and Louise Lasser), and the lonely, sex-obsessed Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who lives next to Helen and goes to Bill for therapy.

At once both scathingly funny and shockingly bleak, HAPPINESS addresses subjects that most films are afraid to touch, including pedophilia and masturbation. Unapologetic and unflinching, Solondz's film features bold performances from the entire cast and makes for uneasy but intriguing viewing as it peers behind the fragile facade of the American dream.

Strong, very strong
Review date: 2008-06-12 Rating: 8 out of 10

A very intelligent and funny movie. It addresses some very human weaknesses in a very uncompromising way. This is one of the rare movies that shows human behaviour without trying to conform to what is socially acceptable. The only thing missing is the narrative by David Attenborough.

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Reviews


Excellent black comedy
Review date: 2008-05-23 Rating: 10 out of 10

Although obviously contrived for the purpose of black comedy, this is an unique and entertaining film with some excellent characerizations. Lara Flynn Boyle's performance however is disappointingly unrestrained and grotesquely charicatured.

The Banality of Perversion & Dysfunction, middle-America style
Review date: 2007-12-10 Rating: 8 out of 10

This film is indeed marvelous. Todd Solondz combines really absurd situations and embarrassing moments -some of which most of us do encounter in daily life and some we hopefully won't- with serious issues. Thus, this film provides not only a very high degree of entertainment -Solondz' sense for irony is exceptional-, it gives you a critical view on society without judging or condemning or forcing you to think one way or the other. I am genuinely impressed by Happiness and its cast full of great actors.

It is littered with an assortment of characters that seem to have sexual fetishes and perversions of some sort. Solondz explores some dark subjects and you would think this would make the film harsh and difficult to watch, but it holds your attention throughout mainly because of the excellent performances on show, especially from Dylan Baker as a respected doctor who holds a terrible secret, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as an obscene phone-caller. He is so incredibly versatile - he successfully made my skin crawl here. Before I even go further the very first scene is probably the best work John Lovitz has ever done. This movie looks dead on at some of the most awkward and horrific things in American culture, but never ever ever tells you or suggests to you what you should think or feel, the way most films do. John's Speech will blow you away. Jane Adams, who has a calamitous love life and plays the social reject of three dysfunctional sisters, does a wonderful job in role her facial expressions will get you going. My personal favorite was Cynthia Stevenson as one of those typical housewives with 2.5 kids and a carpool. Her character was so obnoxious, superficial and condescending - she clearly did a wonderful job. I was also a huge fan of Camryn Manheim (what a twist!), Lara Flynn Boyle (she gives new meaning to the role of the phony snob), Elizabeth Ashley, and Molly Shannon's cameo which was HYSTERICAL. And the child actors...simply brilliant and such difficult material. The film's most powerful and emotional scene is towards the end when Baker's character has a trying conversation with his son.

I think it is fair to say that anyone watching this film can identify with at LEAST one of the so-called 'sicknesses' of the characters, therefore, it is the look in to the dark recesses of their own minds that makes them so uncomfortable. The world is a messed up place, and we all contribute to that in our own fashion, some more than others, but nevertheless, we all do, because our lives all clash with one another at some point. The best we can do is to face it and deal with it, not act as though we are separate from it! I suppose what I am trying to say is that this work is an important, unflinching look at the REAL reality in this world and, like it or not, it does affect you in one way or another, so you might as well face up to it by identifying with this film!


Sufficiently awkward with uneasy laughs in all the right places
Review date: 2007-06-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

At first I was a bit worried about watching Happiness. To be completely honest I only got it because Dylan Baker is in it. However my fear didn't stop me yanking the DVD from the box and shoving it into the DVD player.

You're thrown into the story. There probably wasn't much of a choice because of the amount of characters and all their individual little hidden away problems. There's our main character Joy, whose ex-boyfriend curses her and her family with terrible unhappiness. She's a failing musician yet she quits her job and becomes a teacher for refugees. There's her two sisters, one a writer unfulfilled, the other oblivious to the fact that her Mr Average therapist husband is really a closet paedophile who takes a strange interest in his son's friends. There are other characters too that play important parts but I'll leave it there.

Despite the awkwardness throughout the film, it's a very good film that you have to remember is a black comedy. As for the viewing, it's not something to watch with friends, never mind family.

And the acting is so sincere and believable. Dylan Baker is extremely impressive as the predatory paedophile father. He is an incredible actor and no other actor could have been as truly creepy yet beg for sympathy from the audience in quite the way he does. (Of course, you never really do get on his side, it's just not possible) You need guts for a role like that, and you need to have exceptional acting skill to still be getting work(!) (Remember Dylan in Along Came A Spider, and now the Spider-Man movies as Dr Curt Connors).

Overall, the movie, while a little overpacked with nuts, is essentially a giant poisoned cookie. Watch and let it intoxicate you with uneasiness, horror and most of all, laughter.

Great feature, real ratio is 16:9
Review date: 2006-09-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

I purchased this feature somewhat a month ago. I had seen it before, so I knew what to wait. I was a bit suspicious about the aspect ratio told to be 4:3, but the film was fine for my widescreen tv. No black boxes att all as my fear was that there would be some on the sides. With this ratio you wont see the whole film as it is in the theatre, but it's a lot better than my expectation of a real 4:3 ratio. I still ordered the film with this expectation, so that tells about my fealings for the film. I just had to get to my home.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Dylan Baker
Lara Flynn Boyle
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Jane Adams (II)
Jon Lovitz

Creators:
Jane Adams (II) (Primary Contributor)
Jon Lovitz (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Entertainment in Video
Manufacturer: Entertainment in Video
EAN: 5017239190551
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2000-05-15
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 134 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1998-10-16
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Russian (Original Language)

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