Thanks for the memories!

Sadly Over-hyped

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is a subversively dark yet sometimes funny movie that on the surface seems to deal with a bunch of pathetic losers. Those losers however simply turn out to be every day people dealing with their own bouts of loneliness, obsession, and quiet desperation. Though we don't know it at the start, most of the principal characters all belong to a single family, handling their neuroses in the best way they can without making much progress. An odd aspect of the film is that it takes a look at human frailties that lead their characters into various forms of depravity without making a moral judgment, leaving that pretty much up to the viewer. For that reason, there will be those who abhor the picture and those who may take away some meaningful insight. Dylan Baker, as the tortured psychologist Bill Maplewood is a case in point. His portrayal is probably just a bit too candid for most folks, and quite frankly, I didn't see any credibility in his frank discussion about sexual abuse and masturbation with his own son. Maybe I'm naïve, but I'd bet if there were one in a million parents like him discussing such a personally depraved topic while implicating himself in a crime, then I just don't comprehend human nature. Ditto for Kristina (Camryn Manheim) laying bare her slice and dice of Pedro the doorman to neighbor Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman). On the flip side, Allen's behavior as a serial phone call abuser seemed all too credible and I don't doubt there are any number of perverts like him running around getting their kicks anonymously. The best that can be said about the film is that each of the players effectively demonstrate their own failures as human beings while striving for their own definition of happiness, elusive as that may be. Among the principal cast members, there's really no one who evokes enough sympathy to be considered a good guy or gal, so ultimately, a happy ending is deemed inconclusive. One surprise in the picture though was the appearance of the real estate agent who showed Mona Jordan (Louise Lasser) an apartment. I'd never seen Marla Maples in a picture before, and her identity eluded me until I looked up her credit for the film here. It made me wonder if her ex-husband Donald Trump ever saw this picture.

To call Todd Solondz's "Happiness" a dark comedy is to redefine the words "dark" and "comedy". It hates the world and everyone in it, and takes great pleasure in mocking people stupid enough to try to be happy. In Solondz's world, life is pointless, hope is for suckers, and everybody is basically bad at heart. It says something that the movie's most human, sympathetic character is a child molester.And, yes, it's a comedy - often a very, very funny one. Funny in a morbid, gallows humor, dead baby joke sort of way, but funny nonetheless.The chief characters in "Happiness" are all stunted, narcissistic and hopelessly inadequate. Joy (Jane Adams) is a born loser who drifts through a series of menial jobs and drives her boyfriend to suicide; her sister Helen (Lara Flynn Boyle) is so self-absorbed that she thinks her biggest problem is that everyone loves her too much; her neighbor Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman) can only connect to people by making obscene phone calls; and Bill (Dylan Baker), his therapist and Joy and Helen's brother-in-law, is a pedophile who rapes two of his 11-year-old son's friends. Somehow, Solondz makes these horrible people really, really funny. Like John Waters and the Farrelly Brothers, Solondz finds humor in ugliness and revels in bad taste. He makes sexual dysfunction and personal failure brutally funny; Allen's obscene phone calls, for example, are almost endearing in their ineptitude and anatomical incorrectness ("I'm gonna f*** you in the... ear"), while Helen's narcissism makes her gloriously clueless ("If only I had been raped as a child - then I would know authenticity!"). Solondz shows his characters in a clear, satiric light, and it despises them.While Solondz may not like his characters, he does not take the easy way out by making them caricatures. Every one of these awful human beings is a three-dimensional character with reasons for being awful.For example, most directors would have made Bill a one-note villain, but Solondz makes him a pitiful monster who is tortured by ghastly sexual urges that he knows are wrong. There's a tough scene near the end where Bill has a frank talk with his son Billy about his pedophilia, admitting: that he enjoyed raping his victims; that he would do it again; and, while he would not rape his own son, he would "jerk off instead". Both father and son are crying - Billy with horror as he realizes just what Bill is, and Bill with shame and despair as he realizes the same thing. It's hard to watch, but it's an acting master class and absolutely fearless film-making.This is a real actor's movie; the cast gives career-best performances. Baker is both horrifying and heartbreaking as Bill; he squirms in his own skin, as if he is being eaten alive by his own sickness. We pity him, whether we want to or not. Hoffman is hilariously pathetic as Allen, sweating and mumbling with lonely self-hatred. Adams is sad and sweet as the luckless Helen, the closest thing the movie has to a moral center, while Boyle is priceless as the contemptible Helen, swanning around as if waiting for the world to thank her for being born."Happiness" is the epitome of "acquired taste" - its humor is bitter, acidic and often cruel, and it takes real joy in offending the audience. Go elsewhere for a feel-good comedy with a happy ending. If nothing else, though, it's a true original, and deserves credit for carving out its own niche in the "dark comedy" genre.

I just finished watching this film and as the ending hit, I burst into laughter. Not because it was funny (there is plenty of dark humor), but because I was emotionally exhausted and didn't know what else to do.The way I can best describe what I've just witnessed is 'quietly vicious'. There is a surreal absurdity to it all and though I couldn't really identify with any of the characters, it's honesty and brutality will leave marks on me for days to come."Happiness" examines the cruel undercurrent beneath the thin veneer of 'everything is fine' and follows the lives of a trio of sisters, their parents and some surrounding characters. The performances are nothing short of astounding as they chip away at their passive-aggressive, suburban lives and the madness hidden therein.This film pushes all kinds of boundaries and contains some of the most uncomfortable scenes I've ever laid eyes on. It is not for the faint of heart or mind.I don't want to say anything else because the less you know, the better this film is. I went in cold and it hit me like a ton of bricks.Love it or hate it (I can't decide which), it's an experience that will stay with you.

Joy Jordan (Jane Adams) and Andy Kornbluth (Jon Lovitz) are a sad couple on a really bad date. He berates her mercilessly. Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a pervert and his psychiatrist Bill Maplewood (Dylan Baker) cares little for his fantasies. Helen Jordan (Lara Flynn Boyle) is a lonely successful author whose neighbor Allen makes obscene phone calls. Trish Maplewood (Cynthia Stevenson) is the oldest Jordan sister and married to Bill Maplewood. She's bossy to her youngest sister Joy. She has 3 children but she doesn't know that her husband has disturbing thoughts and they have a sexless marriage. The Jordan sisters' parents Mona (Louise Lasser) and Lenny (Ben Gazzara) are separating after 40 years of marriage. And that's not to mention the disturbing things that Bill Maplewood gets up to.This is a mass of unhappy people. The title is a bit of a joke. Everybody is damaged. They do disturbing things. They hurt each other. Mostly they are their own worst enemy. It's not funny. It's not lovable. I have no wish to spend any time with any of them. It is a disappointing turn from writer/director Todd Solondz who made 'Welcome to the Dollhouse'. I actually like the character in that movie. I find no happiness in wallowing in this tale of human misery.