Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing but endearing, Solondz does it again.......
Review: Welcome To The Dollhouse was so great I didn't think Solondz could ever top it....but he did. Happiness is the boldest film to come out in a long time to examine and strip away human nature, without judging. The film intriguingly has sympathetic characters ie the saintlike Joy who remains optimistic and wants to help others despite the truly horrid way she is treated, the Camyrn Manheim character is strangley endearing, as is the Doctor's son. On the other hand, we have Bill the pedophile, and the cold cruel sister portrayed by the anorexic Boyle, who is so PERFECT for the witchy role. The film strikes a resounding chime of truth as it examines how we try to find happiness and end up missing it, every time. The film is a study in irony, and though it goes for the gross out EVERY time you can think of, its believeable. Above all, the film has that rare blend of truly black comedy we witnessed in Dollhouse.
Rating: 
Summary: Good God!
Review: I'll have to rate this film on two scales. 1 - You have artistic integrity, the film is beautifully filled with great cinematography and brilliant acting. It also has a powerful story that brought me to tears. It was very effective. 2 - You have the enjoyability rate; can you actually say you were entertained by the movie. No I cannot. I can't say it was anything but heinous. It was a test in endurance. I can't remember a single time in the movie where I felt that the tension and malignance of this horror story was at all admirable. This fails in capturing the humor of the weird everyday norm that "Blue Velvet" captured so gracefully. It is vile and cruel....and that sums it up. It is very admirable on the high note that it tried to do something very controversial, but the controversey can't make up for everything else. It echoes the great theory of many surreal movies; everyday life for upper-middle class people is sometimes masked by an exterior look of happiness, but inside lies someting much darker. If that was all Todd Solondz intended, then he acheived his goal masterfully, but I think there was much more humor intended, and I didn't find it the least bit funny. It was a painful experience that I can't recommend. If you want to see something of the same magnitude that is much more successful, see "American Beauty" or "Blue Velvet." This is just an emotional mess.
Rating: 
Summary: feel good movie of the year!
Review: (read the above with complete sarcasm.) It should read- the most utterly revolting movie of the year! Makes 'American Pie' and 'Mary' look like 'Hallmark Hall of Fame'. I did like this movie for its examination of happiness ( and the lack thereof) in general. In many ways, Solondoz's insight into this elusive emotion has mirrored my own. For instance- how some people automatcally pretend that they are happier than they really are, just to bring others arround them down. I'm nowhere near a PhD, but there is some deep underlying fear of being the more miserable than the person next to you. By acting happier than you are, others can and do feel more miserable by comparison, then posssibly falling victim to self-fullfiling prophecy. Its an insidious and unconscience part of human nature. ' Welcome to the Dollhouse' was funnier and less disgusting , but happiness poses some important questions. Some will be too offended (and therefore distracted) to recognize or ponder the them.
Rating:
Summary: Happiness is not a fish that you can catch
Review: I am reminded of that Our Lady Peace line. The movie revels in the irony of its title. This movie takes several characters, none of them truly happy, and lets them bump into each other. The main focus, though, is on one highly dysfunctional family. Yes, this is one of *those* movies. A taste of life on the wrong side of the tracks. And that is what is so provoking about this movie, the fact that it is real. These could be real people. This movie could be taking place over at the apartment complex down the street, for all you know. That's actually one of the themes of the movie, not paying attention to people (and subsequently not missing them when they die). You will get caught up in the lives of each of the characters, wondering where they'll go next. Be, of course, forewarned: this movie deals with masturbation (complete with semen onscreen), pedophilia (nothing explicit, thankfully), sex, and rape. It's not exactly family fare. But it's a good movie.
Rating:
Summary: disturbing appeal
Review: Realizing that many people don't like the subject of child molestation and rape, director Todd Solondz took a gamble. The people that do appreicate his honest direct and down right blunt intrepretation of a psychologically distrubed man, and the laughably sad portrayal of another family, like this movie because it gives them a type of empathy that they never thought they could have. This movie is touching because you find yourself caught up in the lives of perverted individuals, and you see there struggles. This movie was like watching a car accident. You don't want anyone to get hurt, but you can't help but watch in anticipation. And you don't want to see a mangled body, but in a way the accident wouldn't be as astonishing if no on died. Similarly, no one wants to see a child get molested or raped, but you can't help but wonder what makes a person do these things. Truth can give empathy, this movie does! Even if you think it is sick, you leave the movie wondering how did you get these feeling of sorrow for the pedaphile. That to me indicates a strong movie, and one that should be explored by viewers. Movies should be a way to view life that is different from how you live, and they should give you insight to a world that has endless possibilities. This movie opens your eyes, and make you see a new surbanan community, maybe one that scares you. Everyone should appreciate Happiness for it's insightful look at the 'unhappiness' in our world.
Rating:
Summary: Happiness has a purpose...
Review: The movie Happiness presents the audience with some startling images that must be dealt with in order to reconcile the purpose of the plot. However, I do believe that there is a valuable point to this movie. Most Hollywood movies present difficult material in an unrealistic way in which the content is presented overly dramatic or comedic. Happiness, however, presents difficult subjects such as rape and pedophilia with about as little bias as can be expected. In fact, the very reason why so many people have a difficult time viewing the movie is because these issues are shown in such a way that makes the actions of the perpetrators neither inherently good or evil. After realizing this fact some questions come to mind. Is there any value in showing detestable actions in a realistic way? I believe the answer is a resounding yes. By showing the horrible decisions and actions made by the characters in Happiness it becomes necessary for the audience to reconcile those actions in their minds. This movie reminds me of other such movies that made the audience cope with the realities of life. Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan are a couple such movies. The difference with Happiness, however, is that it can be difficult to pinpoint any clear "evil" in the movie. It is possible to feel sympathy for each character in the movie for various reasons. After all, their primary goals were all the same, to achieve happiness. Most of the characters if not all felt some remorse for their actions as well or at least some remorse for how those actions affected their loved ones. Happiness forces the audience to consider how various peoples' perversions or search for "happiness" are not always in line with the social norms.
Rating: 
Summary: not that amusing
Review: Although this movie has some amusing, and almost entertaining qualities, I found that is was just not my cup of tea. There was an insane level of gratuitous nastiness that put me off from the start of the movie. I did enjoy that, unlike a lot of Hollywood movies, it did have a plot that was beyond average. The movie was daring enough to go beyond socially acceptable norms, but perhaps it should have done so a little less graphically. I think that when a viewer is faced with blatant dysfunction in every character it is very disturbing, and that definitely happens in this movie. At a certain point in the movie you just want to escape, and find some way to make it all stop...the story, the characters, the craziness. Everything.
Rating:
Summary: Happiness
Review: This was one of the strangest movies I have ever seen. I really did not enjoy it. None of the characters seemed to have any depth, no good just bad. The three sisters were each quite screwed up in their own way, yet thinking that they had it all. Trish was the ultimate housewife but yet she couldn't satisfy her husband, not that that was necessarily her fault because he was a pedophile, but she looked down upon Joy for not having a husband and children. Helen was the most shallow person. The scene with those two sisters in the restaurant with each of them condescending the other one under the guise of compliments and envy all the while trashing Joy is the perfect example of how stupid they both were. Joy did not really have any truly bad qualities but she was so unlikable because she was such a doormat. The two leading men in the movie were both obsessed with fantasies of having power over their sexual partners. I really felt that this whole movie was just the makers trying to shock their audience. It felt like they were just trying to see how far they could go with an "R" rating. If you like movies that have really no plot, just messed up people's lives, then definitely get this movie. It is for you. But if you are looking to be entertained, don't even bother.
Rating: 
Summary: Harsh Reality
Review: Overall, I believe this movie is a tragedy, taken as a whole. There are a few comedic moments, which just remind the audience of the serious material the film is trying to portray. "Happiness" depicts the reality of society, no matter how harsh it may seem. There isn't any hidden truth or light heartedness involved in any of the characters. There lives are realistically torn apart, affecting everyone in the family. This may be too disturbing for people to watch and it could also offend people, but they're living in a naive world. There are sick and desperate people living in this world and people need to accept it. The emotional suffering could be considered exaggerated because it affects every character, but that's the best way for the audience to get the point. This film is a broader social commentary on what really does exist in the world, no matter how disgusting it may seem. The overall social commentary of disturbing truths enlightens the audience, either by their expression of disgust or praise. The actors' involved in this production did a spectacular job with the disturbing material they were given to work with. Each character was portrayed as it was meant to be, fitting with the reality of the film. The reception of the film, whether it be negative or positive, shows just how spectacular the actors' portrayals were. They gave an in-depth representation of the tragic and harsh realities that can occur in everyday life.
Rating:
Summary: So Creepy, It's Good.
Review: Happiness is one of those movies where, if you can't stomach creepy things, then you are better off not watching it. I have found that my taste in movies usually involves off the wall types of movies, such as, Being Jon Malkovich, Drowning Mona, and Waiting For Guffman. Of course, none of these movies deal with severe issues such as child molestation, but they all have something about them which makes them unique, just as Happiness has about it. I don't find Happiness to be any different than a movie like Schindler's List or American History X. All of these movies face harsh realities of life. They are meant for people to watch and remind themselves that awful things do happen in our society. Happiness may not be a specific true story, but it tells about everyday people that continue to live their lives without anyone else noticing that they really are not happy. I also liked this movie because of the irony. The semi-hero is named Joy and she is far from being happy, nor is anyone else in the movie happy, although the movie is called Happiness.
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