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Happiness Details

1998 Certificate 18
  • 70
  • from 10,163 members

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 .. Read more

Starring Jane Adams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Cynthia Stevenson, Dylan Baker
Director Todd Solondz
Genres Drama

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Happiness

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.

Starring Jane Adams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Cynthia Stevenson, Dylan Baker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jon Lovitz, Louise Lasser, Ben Gazzara, Camryn Manheim, Jared Harris, Justin Elvin
Director Todd Solondz
Studio ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO
Run time DVD: 2 hrs 14 mins
Certificate Certificate 18
Genres Drama
Language DVD: English
Released Production year: 1998

To Rent:
DVD: 15 May 2000

  • Critic's review of Happiness

    View all critics' reviews (4)

    • 3 stars out of 4  

      A bleak drama, verging on the misanthropic but lightened by a cutting wit, on the unsuccessful pursuit of happiness, and the subsequent discovery of the joylessness of sex and the damage that people can do to one another in unsatisfactory relationships.

    • 30313

  • Most helpful member's review of Happiness

    View all members' reviews (93)

    • Rated - 5.0 stars  

      • 36
      • 6

      A Modern Masterpiece!

      'Happiness' is quite simply one of the most upsetting, challenging and hilarious films you will ever see. Not for those who are easily offended but then... read more »

      Report this review

    • 58738

  • Most recent members' reviews of Happiness

    View all members' reviews (93)

    • Rated - 4.5 stars  

      • 0
      • 0

      Watch this film

      It's wonderful. I'm putting this in my movie collection. However it's not for everyone. I have else to say about this movie but I need to fill in ... read more »

      Report this review

    • 1041071

    • Rated - 3.0 stars  

      • 0
      • 0

      A view of some lives

      A view of unhappy people how are at loose end of what to do with themselves. May be truer to life than you would think. Who thought up the plot?

      Report this review

    • 1018760
  • View all members' reviews (93)

  • News and features

    View all
    Buffalo 66

    Ben Gazzara loses cancer battle

    • WENN Newsdesk
    • 04 Feb 2012

    Stage and screen legend Ben Gazzara has died after losing a battle with pancreatic cancer - the same disease that killed his Road House co-star Patrick Swayze. Gazzara, who was 81, died at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan on Friday. A native New Yorker, the Emmy winner studied with drama guru Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and became a Broadway stage sensation in the 1950s thanks to leading roles in plays like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Hatful of Rain. Gazzara made a string of TV... Read more

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Rating breakdown

10,163 Member ratings
  • 100
1,098
  • 90
1,033
  • 80
2,139
  • 70
1,816
  • 60
1,498
  • 50
826
  • 40
611
  • 30
420
  • 20
443
  • 10
279

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    • Happiness

    • Happiness
      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 ...

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