Happiness (1998) USA
Happiness Image Cover
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Director:Todd Solondz
Studio:Lions Gate
Producer:Ted Hope
Writer:Todd Solondz
Rating:4.0 (284 votes)
Rated:Unrated
Date Added:2009-02-09
ASIN:B00000IC7G
UPC:9781573625630
Price:$14.98
Awards:Nominated for Golden Globe, Another 9 wins & 12 nominations
Genre:Comedy
Release:1999-04-27
IMDb:0147612
Duration:134
Picture Format:Letterbox
Aspect Ratio:1.85:1
Sound:Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Languages:English
Subtitles:English, Spanish, French
Todd Solondz  ...  (Director)
Todd Solondz  ...  (Writer)
 
Jane Adams  ...  Joy Jordan
Jon Lovitz  ...  Andy Kornbluth
Philip Seymour Hoffman  ...  Allen
Dylan Baker  ...  Bill Maplewood
Lara Flynn Boyle  ...  Helen Jordan
Maryse Alberti  ...  Cinematographer
Justin Elvin  ...  Timmy Maplewood
Cynthia Stevenson  ...  Trish Maplewood
Lila Glantzman-Leib  ...  Chloe Maplewood
Gerry Becker  ...  Psychiatrist
Rufus Read  ...  Billy Maplewood
Louise Lasser  ...  Mona Jordan
Ben Gazzara  ...  Lenny Jordan
Camryn Manheim  ...  Kristina
Arthur J. Nascarella  ...  Detective Berman
Molly Shannon  ...  Nancy
Jane Adams (II)  ...  
Summary: At times brilliant and insightful, at times repellent and false, "Happiness" is director Todd Solondz's multistory tale of sex, perversion, and loneliness. Plumbing depths of "Crumb"-like angst and rejection, Solondz won the Cannes International Critics Prize in 1998 and the film was a staple of nearly every critic's Top Ten list. Admirable, shocking, and hilarious for its sarcastic yet strangely empathetic look at consenting adults' confusion between lust and love, the film stares unflinchingly until the audience blinks. But it doesn't stop there. A word of strong caution to parents: One of the main characters, a suburban super dad (played by Dylan Baker), is really a predatory pedophile and there is more than an attempt to paint him as a sympathetic character. Children are used in this film as running gags or, worse, the means to an end. Whether that end is a humorous scene for Solondz or sexual gratification for the rapist becomes largely irrelevant. "Happiness" is an intelligent, sad film, revelatory and exact at moments. It's also abuse in the guise of art. That's nothing to celebrate. "--Keith Simanton"