Happiness

Rating:
Summary: Disturbingly funny
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Yikes! Ai-yi-yi! Awesome!
Review: First of all, I don't know why I hadn't heard of this film until this year. I loved Solondz's first film (Welcome to the Dollhouse). Well, this movie has the same dark humor as "Dollhouse," but to me is much more serious. I agree that if anyone out there sticks to warm and fuzzy stories, this movie is not a good choice. However, if you're into films that challenge your perceptions of the world around you, this is it! Honestly this movie was one of the best I've ever seen. Yes it did crack me up many times (Philip S. Hoffman's and Jon Lovits' characters were particularly pathetic and hysterically pitiful). In fact, the general "badness" or "sadness" of all the characters in this movie had to make you laugh...it's insane to think that the world is made up of picture perfect Beaver Cleaver families. To me the most crucial scene was the father's "confession" to his son...an incredibly powerful scene which was beautifully done. What I loved most about this movie is that every character was developed as complex, 3D human beings...unlike so many other movies which really simplify their characters. No, this is not a glorification of obscene phone callers, pedophiles, and adulterers...it's a comedy which uncovers some unhappy aspects of "happy" peoples' lives. It's an intelligent and outrageous film...see it today!

Rating:
Summary: Tasteless, valueless, shock-fare garbage.
Review: This movie has nothing to offer but shock, and I mean nothing. The acting is decent, but other than that there is no point to this film other than to expose the viewer to the darkest elements of the human psyche for shock value.

The characters are a woman who fantasizes about being raped, a man who drugs and rapes 11-year-old boys, another man who makes obscene phone calls to women while masturbating, an overweight woman who kills the man who raped her and dismembers his body, a Russian immigrant who takes advantage of vulnerable women, an oversensitive, mousy waif who cries at the drop of a hat, a senior couple who separate and try to date other people, and an 11-year-old boy who's obsessed with having his first orgasm. At the end of the movie you will probably either hate or at least dislike ALL of the characters.

Not only are the characters despicable, but this movie is BORING and POINTLESS. The very last scene where this 11-year old kid masturbates on a balcony while spying on a sunbathing neighbor then marches into the dining room and announces to his entire extended family that he "came" is a perfect example of the kind of pointless shock-fare garbage that this film is. It has no value whatsoever.

Rating:
Summary: My review for the film
Review: The title of the movie is misleading, but maybe that's what it's supposed to do; search for happiness in their own lives. People either like this movie or they hate it. I'm in the middle. It was not a movie that I would watch again, however, it was a movie I could bare to watch all the way through. I think this movie showed the realities of life and sometimes we hate to face reality. We don't like to think of stalkers or pedophiles are average citizens like ourselves. This movie did succeed in its shock value. To make a movie memorable, sometimes the director chooses to show scenes that are not necessary. In terms of remembering, this is a movie that will be hard to forget. To me, the movie "American Pie" was disturbing because of the subject matter that was sometimes talked about. After watching this movie, I realize that "American Pie" was tame compared to this. This brought the subject matter of sex to a different level and from different directions. There is a character who stalks females over the phone and says lewd sexual comments to them. Another character enjoys having sex with young boys. One character has sex just for the fun of it while never having commit. While the subject of sex has always been something private and not really discussed, movies are bringing up the subject in full force. At some points, it seemed like sex was the central subject matter for all the characters. I think the hardest part of watching this movie was seeing how this subject matter was just brought out into the open. The humorous scenes lightened the mood of the movie. It made you forget about the dark subject matters this film was about. This movie could've been dark and disturbing, but the writer created the atmosphere to make it seem like something some American families must go through. The actors did a good job in their portrayal of their characters. They were able to make the characters believable. And while it's hard to understand how a family can be this way, we have to realize that families are all dysfunctional in their own way.

Rating:
Summary: If you like Cozy Movies, steer clear of Real Life
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Skinny girls are hot
Review: Dude, this movie is sweet as hell. That skinny girl from teh practice is all about getting nailed and some dude rapes his little kid's school chum. Seriously, it doesn't get much better. I guess it could be slightly better if Will Smith played the kid who gets raped, 'cause I think he has it coming to him.

Rating:
Summary: I'm living in a state of irony.
Review: Having seen 'Storytelling', I had a fairly good idea of what I was getting myself into when I picked this movie up. It deals with adult subject matter, for sure, but it manages to present the inherent, subtle humor of strange, bizzare, or grotesque situations. One scene that sticks out in my mind is when Philip Seymour Hoffman's character is in a diner with the character played by Camryn Manheim and she just finished telling him about her being assaulted and the particularly gruesome way she dealt with the assault, and he replied, "Well, we all have our plusses and minuses." I laughed until my sides hurt. You really have to see the scene and all it's nuances to fully appreciate it. And there are a lot of scenes like this throughout the movie. This is definately a squeamish and unsettling type of movie with some pretty difficult subject matter. Given that, I wouldn't recommend this movie to just anyone. Seek it out if you must, but be warned, it's not a happy story. As far as one reviewers' statement that the scenes were presented for there shock value only, I didn't really see it that way. I saw a peeling away of the appearance that is presented by people to show the sorid underbelly of life, like turning over a big rock to see what kind of creepy crawlies are hiding underneath. That's not to say that the people in this movie are representative of people in general, but I think we all have little secrets about ourselves, our 'rocks', that we wouldn't want the rest of the world to know. I can understand why some people would be turned off by a movie like this, as I think a lot of people go to see movies to escape from this kind of material. Also, I think Dylan Baker did an excellent job in portraying his character. He played a character who seemed to have the idyllic life, a beautiful wife, a large home in the suburbs, three children, and good career...and pedoephillic tendancies towards young boys. He was so creepy, taking advantage of oppourtunities presented to him, regardless of the consequences. I didn't feel sorry for his character, but I did feel like he was a creature trapped by his own demons, acting on his primal urges. He was what he was, and that wasn't going to change. I don't understand the urges he felt, but the characterization of the monster he became was certainly interesting to watch. I enjoyed this movie, and I am looking forward to seeing 'Welcome to the Dollhouse'.

Cookieman108

Rating:
Summary: A thinking persons cold bucket of water in the face!
Review: How on earth can anyone make such a ridiculous statement like "this movie has no point"?! Excuse me! Clearly it is not the English Patient or the ever-meaningful Terminator 2. To expose the underbelly of our society and put on film what most people try to ignore takes guts. I suppose that for those who choose to live like ostriches and deny the existence of real people (like those in T2) this movie is pointless. But for the rest of us in the real world, it actually helps us to know that there are people out there who are sad, lonely, living in despair and above all sick. We see emotional suffering at its zenith. Let us all quit being pretentiously politically correct just for a minute and take a look around. This movie is as real as it gets and actually remains entertaining, unlike most touchy feely movies I've seen recently. No warm fuzzies here folks, just in your face reality. As far as individuals who's reviews that refer to this movie as filth maybe they should go rent something really deep such as ...say...The Faculty.

Rating:
Summary: Dont look for any depth, its not there.
Review: Yes, happiness is an offensive, disturbing film-thats not why I dislike it, it's pretty much impossible to offend me.

The reason I hate this movie is because there's NO POINT! It's just shocking and offensive for the sake of being shocking and offensive. People often mistake shocking for thought-provoking. Read all the positive reviews on this site. Not one of them actually describes any relevant themes, any statements about the human condition stated in this movie. The closest you'll find is "this movie shows that...these things really happen." NO KIDDING! A better film (and they are out there) would have delved into WHY these things happen.

This film would have a little more credibility if the dialogue was a little more believable. Humans simply do not interact that way. Also, the over-use of bright colors and happy-family stereotypes is almost insulting. Yea, humans have a dark side underneath. We get it.

To it's credit, the acting is excellent, and there are some very funny scenes. But please, dont mistake this for a challenging, revolutionary film.

Rating:
Summary: Excruciatingly boring
Review: The people in this movie are creepy, all right, but unfortunately there's little if anything interesting about any of them. This is one of those movies in which you're sure something is going to happen any minute now, but nothing ever does.

In reaction to the reviewers who are making a fuss about "child abuse" in this movie - well, it's not there. A little suggestion or two, but hardly anything to work up a sweat over.

In fact, there's nothing at all in this movie to get worked up over, or even to wake up for. This movie might be good to put on the TV if you have unwelcome houseguests to get rid of; otherwise, NOT recommended.