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Happiness | Year: 1998 Classification: Comedy Directed: - Todd Solondz Actors/Actresses: - Jon Lovitz - Molly Shannon - Jane Adams (II) - Philip Seymour Hoffman Squeamish? Easily offended? Leave now... While "American Beauty" painted its dysfunctional family in definably human shades, "Happiness", also a black comedy about an extended suburban family, reveals the darkest elements of human nature in explicit, repulsive detail. It's a tale of phone-sex addicts, paedophiles, wannabe rape victims, murderers, thieves and onanism-fixated adolescents. "Man About The House" it is not. While this sounds like an unbearable prospect (and for some viewers, it almost certainly will be), it's oddly hilarious and fitfully moving. Personal morals will be brought into question when the viewer finds himself sympathizing with a paedophile, but director Todd Solondz handles such taboos with sensitivity and a jet-black sense of humour. Performances, too, are top-notch. The ubiquitous Philip Seymour Hoffman is smartly cast as a Lara Flynn Boyle-neighbouring pervert, while Boyle herself is masterful as the slutty, self-centred elder sister. Crucially, no character is exactly how he or she might first appear, and here's where the film has its grimly fascinating fun. It's also fair to say that "Happiness" would be unbearable to watch were it not so damn funny. Witness the frumpy, overweight neighbour of Hoffman chomping strawberry ice cream, or the blasé reaction of Adams' workmates when she reveals that her ex-boyfriend has died. Even the scenes involving the paedophile (superbly acted by Dylan Baker) have a surreal humour about them, such as the sheer frustration he exhudes when trying to get his son's friend to eat a tranquiliser-coated tuna sandwich. The film's final scene involving a balcony, a dog, and a scantily-clad woman, while a hilarious denouement of such a downbeat film, is oddly moving in that it is the only genuine slice of happiness throughout the film. Now, that's subversive. Take heed, this film is not for the squeamish or the easily offended, but for those with an open mind and a gut for evil cynicism, toilet humour, and a respect for dangerous, risky cinema, "Happiness" comes as something of a revelation. A quiet, confrontational masterpiece. Disturbingly funny This film is certainly not for the weak hearted or weak minded. I tried to rent this after a few students suggested "You'd Like it" and had no luck finding it anywhere, BlockBuster carries it in Canada but not the US. That's a good sign that I won't have to sit through some Sleepless in seatle, jerry Maguire, Titanic sort of torture. Well I was finally able to find small DVD rental store that had it. It is as others have said, "F'd up", but that doesn't mean its bad. It contains one of the best cinematic lines I've ever heard in a movie, a short conversation at the end of the movie between the father and son, that I can't say here because Amazon would censor me. The whole series of private conversations between father and son are amazing, amazingly disturbing and/or funny depending on your view. This movie isn't for people who take titles literally, If you thought Bambi was a disturbing movie, DONT RENT/BUY this. If you like quality alternative flicks and can stomach the topic of Pedophilia(there is nothing graphic in the movie) give this movie a chance. The NC-17 rating is a joke. This film is NOT honest. "If you can't handle the realism, it's your problem; this movie isn't afraid to be honest; blah blah blah." On the contrary, Solondz goes to ludicrous extremes of contrivance to convince us that the world is horrible, people are monsters, and there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it. Every single character in this film is depressed, insane, a pervert, or a liar, and every character is unhappy. That's neither realistic nor, in my opinion, "honest" on any deeper level. Solondz does his utmost to deny the existence of any chance for redemption. The worldview this movie conveys seems to be that of a deeply troubled person desperately trying to tell us that everyone else is as miserable as he is. I'm not saying some of the things he depicts don't happen in the real world (albeit in less contrived ways). But to focus on them, to the exclusion of anything else, to make a point about the impossibility of obtaining happiness, seems dishonest, manipulative, and downright irresponsible. I really wanted to like this movie. It was well made and well acted. I even gave it the chance to sink in, since many of my favorite movies become my favorites only after a while of thinking about them. But the more I think about this one, the angrier I get. Why would anyone want to use art in this way? Buy Happiness at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Happiness Search with the Priority Search Engine on Happiness This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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