Happiness (1998)

At times brilliant and insightful, at times repellent and false, Happiness is director Todd Solondz's multistory 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 Ten 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 pedophile 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 Amazon.com

Dysfunctional Family Gone Wild!

Being a long time Solondz fan, I found this to be a really good movie. The best thing about his movies is that you never know what you are going to see next. He does a great job of taking several different stories and intertwining them into one climax ala Seinfeld. Some of the subject matter was pretty disturbing, but in a funny way. I found myself laughing alot through this movie and then feeling bad about it thinking "I don't think thats supposed to be funny"! My favorite character was Allen (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). This poor guy goes through quite a bit to hook up with his neighbor. Whenever I seen him in this movie, I though of him in Boogie Nights and it just made me laugh.

This is a good movie and I would recommend it to anyone who likes alternative cinema. December 8, 2008

Happiness does not wear well...

I first saw this movie several years ago and, I guess, my mood was such that, aside from brilliant acting; I found the film wildly amusing despite its central theme. I ordered copies for several friends who seemed to find it "strange" to "wierd"...not very funny.

I remembered it and tried it on a new friend last night. It is still shocking, brilliantly acted...but it isn't very funny after all. The big laughs I remembered just weren't there. The film moved quickly but I kept thinking, "now comes the REALLY funny part"...and there just isn't one.

It is brilliant, disturbing, shocking. It is not a comedy. Those who turn it off after ten minutes may be missing an experience in cinema...but a very ugly one. November 28, 2008

Horrible mess of fringe people

Only in a film could one find such a menagerie of social misfits that somehow all manage to intersect in some tangential way. While lunatics, perverts, the socially inept, the depressed, ugly, fat and others do in fact exist, to find them all in such close proximity to one another is of course farce. Excuses can be give for why this is, given that it is a film and this is the story the filmmakers choose to tell. Fine. I still hated it. None of the characters were compelling and I could not relate to barely any aspect of this film. Like that horrid overrated garbage CRASH, this film supposes the entire world is a certain way. I say no, no the world is not this way. This film reminds me more of CNN or other such news organizations where the news is always bleak when you watch. Aliens might imagine this to be an awful place if they used the news for a guide. hurricanes, floods, murders, rapes, and so on and so forth. Turns out my life is not like that, my friends and families lives are not like that and in my almost 40 years I have encountered very little of what i have seen on the news. This film is the same. Although people like this do exist, to find them all existing together on the screen in an intersecting mess is unbearable. I am not sure of even what this films aim was. While art itself does not need a reason of course, a film still should at least be watchable and enjoyable on some level, even if only to communicate other kinds of people that the film viewer may be unaware of. Usually there is someone in the film for the viewer to relate to, a character that arcs, a mildly satisfying ending, an attempt at making some aspect of the film worth the torture one may see. This had none of that. Since I love films and tend to watch films many times. I could no sit through this mess again. It was the most depressing and awkwardly compiled collection of societies fringe. It also made no attempt at showing any semblance of reality that one may be exposed to. One or two odd people I could have accepted. All of them off the deep end was a bit much. I could not think of anyone who I would recommend this to, except perhaps a psychiatrist working in a mental ward. November 16, 2008

Happiness... Not What You Think...

This film explores the ravages of sibling rivalry, the painful torment of twisted sexuality, and the loss of love and discovery of a new life. An amazing cast gives amazing performances. This film is not to be missed but it is also not for the faint of heart. October 21, 2008

A Must See

This movie reminds me as a dark comedy for personality disorders. Philip Seymor Hoffman does a fantastic job playing his rolse, as does Jon Lovitz, and the rest of the cast. Definitely a Must See! September 28, 2008

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