Happiness
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Movie Reviews of Happiness
Movie Review: Different
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is a surprising accomplishment. I find it strange that a film with such repulsive subject matter was able to garner support from such top-notch actors as Philp Seymour-Hoffman. The film also features the familiar faces as Dylan Baker, Jon Lovitz, and Lara Flynn Boyle. As forementioned by a reviewer, this film contains a host of sick and twisted characters; the film is presented as a comedy, so it isn't especially difficult to watch, although it is still very bizarre. The characters include a suicidal man, an author of poetry told from the perspective of sexually abused children who is also has sex witha different man every night, a phone sex pervert, a pedophile/child rapist/serial killer, a homophobic father upset with the fact that his son is potentially gay, a seemingly regular woman who in fact has sadistically mutated the body of a bellhop, a child obsessed with wanting to release a special bodily fluid, a man cheating on his "mistress" with his immigration counselor, and a man who leaves his wife of many decades for a sexy elder in his new retirement home. The film is unrated and contains Graphic sexual dialogue, sex scenes including a shadow of rough doggystyle, nudity, Disturbing sexual themes involving pedophilia and child rape, a brutal scene of violence/gore, strong language, images of launched bodily fluids, and discussions of brutal murder. Parents might want to hire a sitter for this one. In its actual quality, the film is daring and manages to be quite the funny film even if you do feel guilty about it. At over 2 hours, the film does become kind of slow, and their are lulls, but truly excellent performances and a quirky script make this effort worth your time.Movie Review: Shocking eye-opener
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of those films that suddenly hit you, when you don't expect it. I would say that Happiness is a film in a Robert Altman style but with a very realistic touch. Altman's films are maybe less realistic because you recognize those famous actors and that's exactly the feeling that I did not have while watching Happiness. The film is very realistic and authentic to me, the way the actors mold their character and the way they relate to the others is superb and very non-selfish from an actor's point of view. What I am trying to say here, is that this is one of those rare films in which you can see people playing other people without noticing it's all worked out in a script. I'd like to mention David Lynch's masterwork, 'the Straight story', in which Sissy Spacek plays this stuttering daughter in a way that can only be described as heartbreaking realistic and very heartwarming at the same time. Some of the characters in Happiness did the same to me and that makes me say that this movie is a must-see. Although every viewer should be warned that there are some shocking moments and images, but they are all in place where they belong if you can take it. It is a movie about ordinary people living their ordinary, sometimes average life, and the way they are connected to eachother. Sometimes not knowing that they are connected, or will be connected at a certain moment in time, maybe in a certain place or brought together by people they both know. In this way, Happiness has some parallels with Robert Altman's 'Short Cuts', but Happiness stands out as a shocking, sometimes even funny but very present day in-depth look into people and their lives. Definitely Five Stars!Movie Review: If you like Cozy Movies, steer clear of Real Life
Summary: 5 Stars
Todd Solondz has pulled off something here that is far more remarkable than he achieved with "Welcome To The Dollhouse". He has thrown together a cast of completely repugnant characters (with the exception of the lone protagonist----ironically named "Joy") and displayed them for who they are. He doesn't make an effort to justify their behavior, or condone it. But he forces us to LOOK at them as sick hurting souls, and in the process, reveals more about human nature than any movie I've ever seen.Solondz's film pushes the envelope in ways that make Neil Labute's "Friends and Neighbors" seem like "Bambi". Nothing is sacred. While the film (at 139 minutes) is sluggish in parts, the acting, particularly Phillip Seymour Hoffman's pathetic obscene phone calling geek, Camryn Manheim's overweight murderer and (in particular) Dylan Baker's seriously sick pedophilic shrink drive the film and keep us riveted...it's a miracle that we don't stop watching.
To summarize "Happiness" with repeated negative adjectives and to downplay it for it's lack of cuddly emotions demeans the entire film. It's certainly not about sex-----these characters don't even have (or probably deserve) FRIENDS, much less lovers. But like any controversial work, you have to address it for what it is, not what you would like it to be.
If you want happy endings and plastic, feel-good characters, check out "You've Got Mail"---but if you want insight into why people do the horrible things they do----things that happen in every town---YOUR TOWN---more often than you'd like, check out Todd's dark vision.
Movie Review: Best Film Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is simply outstanding. When I first saw it in the theaters, I was slack-jawed and stupefied afterwards. When it came out on DVD, I had to go out and purchase it immediately.The Amazon.com review calls this film "abuse in the guise of art," an ill-conceived criticism which shows why this film is so revelatory. The best films do not play to the moral rigidities or sensitivities of the viewer, but attempt to shatter these and reveal situations in new lights. Yes, there is a pedophile in the film. No, he is not glorified. Perhaps he is humanized.. but he is a HUMAN BEING. People can fall in love with others besides those of the opposite sex who have reached a certain age. (See Mann's Death in Venice, Lolita, etc.) If you want your TV movie-of-the-week with its sugarcoated, spoonfed morality, look elsewhere.
The comparison of the father's disturbed sexuality with his son's sexual coming of age is interesting as well. The son is preoccupied with his ejaculatory "rite of passage" into manhood. We're all sexual beings and we've all passed that rite.. but what happens when our intrinsic sexual natures go awry, as with the father?
The other stories are outstanding, especially Vlad, the simultaneously hilarious and disturbing "go-getter" new to America. The only flaw was the story of the elderly couple, whose apathetic stupor contributes little to the film.
It has been said that great literature suggests a vastness without explicitly saying it. This movie suggests a lot, and leaves one thinking. But for others, perhaps the movie will simply be a sideshow of freaks they can't relate to. I feel sorry for those viewers.
Movie Review: A brilliant, audacious masterpiece.....
Summary: 5 Stars
Taking risks that most filmmakers would never dream of, Todd Solondz has mangaged a rare feat in American film -- pushing the envelope of good taste without resorting to sophomoric shock humor while simultaneously creating realistic, complex characters. The film will no doubt offend many, but unlike the overwrought preachiness of many in Hollywood, Solondz respects the intelligence of the audience to come to their own conclusions. Because Americans tend to lean in the direction of self-righteousness and moral absolutism, we are left aghast when we witness a film that refrains from judgment. In addition, Solondz has created a film of unprecedented power and black humor, where loneliness and desperation are treated with the proper level of seriousness that so many films avoid. To be sure, there are big laughs in this film, but they come from our collective recognition rather than the belief that we are superior to the people on the screen. Every scene works perfectly; every performance contains the precise mixture of dignity and absurdity; and all is presented with the understanding that easy answers and forced closure are not parts of life, therefore they should remain absent from film. As a viewer, ask yourself one question: Given that all human beings are united in the desire to love, be loved, and express affection for another, what are those not "blessed" with socially acceptable traits (wealth, beauty, strength, even sanity) supposed to do? How do they capture that essential part of life? This film dares to ask that question and in many ways, provide disturbing answers.