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Happiness
on DVD (1998)
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| 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: |
134 mins |
| Certificate: |
 |
| User collections: |
My Faves, Just my perfect eye opening weekend, The greatest movies that crept under the radar, Mike's List, Qwerky Classics, Top 20 Lovefilm Rentals (June 2008), Biggest let downs, truelly great films, Favourite Films, Films that make you feel human |
| Genres: |
Drama |
| Languages: |
English |
| Released: |
15/05/2000
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Brief synopsis of 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.
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Related
Critics Reviews
Radio Times
Todd Solondz's stunningly acted and brilliantly scripted film looks at the extraordinary lives of a group of men and women who engage in shocking antisocial behaviour, including obscene phone calls, murder and paedophilia. What's so amazing about this tragicomedy is its lack of moral judgement — the viewers are left to make up their own minds about the events — and its pungent humour that emerges from the sickest of circumstances. You may even feel pity for these people and get drawn into their lives — though the film's most controversial scene (the frankest of discussions between an unlikely child molester and his inquisitive son) will play on your mind for days.
Halliwell's Film Guide
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.
Entertainment Weekly
"...Tender, shocking, cathartically honest....Solondz leaves us giddy....Breaks through to haunted levels of erotic compulsion that place it close to the hypnotic artistry of BLUE VELVET..." -- Rating: A
See all 6 Critics Reviews »
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