Rating: 
Summary: The Cinema of Revenge
Review: "Happiness" is like an American Peter Greenaway film without stunning visual images, witty dialogue, intellectual game-playing indugences. What do get when you strip those signature items away from a Greenaway film? Pure misanthropy and contempt for the audience. After watching this film, I got the distinct feeling that writer/director Todd Solondz was taking revenge on us all for harms visited upon him in middle and high school. He wants us all to suffer so he can have the last laugh and possibly feel a little better about himself. Sure, we humans all have secrets that evoke shame. We can do stupid, shocking and repulsive things. We tell people we think we can trust. Some people can cope with them, some can't. But if you're going to make a movie about such things, you damn well better have something to say about it instead of just presenting tableaux of cruelty. So we're left here with an undoubtedly talented cast in service of a script that seems to be an exercise in moral relativism, but on closer inspection there's less there than meets the eye. What can I say about this piece of garbage? The characters depicted are pretty much unredeemable--because redemption simply is not possible in Solondz's little universe. In order to depict a world as bleak as this one (and for the characters' unhappy states to truly mean something) one needs to balance it with wit and, you know, the occasional happy person. Solondz does no such thing, of course; that would be to compromise with "Them"--the people in the real world for whom happiness or finding beauty in life is possible--the kind of people who will see through his films for the solipsistic messes they are. It's one thing to depict deeply sick characters in order to deepen our understanding of how terrible acts occur (see Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" for example) or to illuminate transpersonal forces at work, and another thing altogether to show moral sickness simply for the sake of a contest of whose wounds are deeper, or some sophomoric existential statement. "Happiness" does nothing of the former, and is, bereft of that, a reprehensible film.
Rating: 
Summary: Happiness, where are you?
Review: For long I have been hearing about this film. Mostly from independent study. One day, I typed in the title of the film into Yahoo and it came up with the script which I completely ate up. For a solid hour, I never once took my eyes off the computer screen. Solondz wrote, in my opinion, one of the most original, affecting, deeply emotional scripts ever written. That night, I went to a local video store where I had seen the VHS some time earlier, though never picked up, for lack of information about the film. BAM! Wasn't there! My only guess is they got rid of it due to it's content. People probably complained. Ugh. Well, since I live in Delaware, and I knew that I would not be able to find it anywhere else, I ordered the dvd from the net. A week later, 'twas at my door and it was screaming to be watched. The next two hours I'll never forget. When the film was over, I was left completely speechless. I had never seen anything like it, and even reading the entire script cannot prepare you for an experience like the film. I sat there dumbfounded all the way until the end of the magnificent Michael Stipe/Rain Phoenix song. At that point, I phoned my girlfriend and ranted for an hour about the greatness of this film. I wrote in huge letters on pieces of paper "Happiness = Greatest film ever." So many things about this film are absolutely perfect. From the way that you get to know and love and feel horribly sad for a pedophile (which is a completely new subject in a film, for I), to the blissful soundtrack of piano ballads from the 70's and 80's, this film is absolutely a must see for everyone (over a certain age, of course). Of all the scenes in the film, I think the scenes with Bill the serial rapist are my favorite, because he's an incredibly nice guy and he truly can't help his urges and the way it's filmed and portrayed, you really just wanna hug him and cry with him. Especially in the final talk with his son (which was absolutely devastating). Phillip Seymour Hoffman (who's one of my favorite actors) was also extraordinary in the film as Allen, who's obsessed with his neighbor Helen. Really, there's not a bad performance from any of the actors. My personal favorite performance, though, was by Jon Lovitz, who is certainly most well known as a comic actor. However, there is nothing comedic about his role in this film. It's only 1 scene, but it's certainly a memorable one. All in all, in my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful and best quality films to have come out in years and maybe ever. You should see it. However, yes, there's a lot of sexual things in the film, so don't let your 3rd grader watch it. They won't like it anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Well...
Review: ...a good story, decent acting, some harsh subject matters, but none that I haven't seen before (I'm from Europe, we're more used to be shown the ugly and nasty aspects of life in movies devoid of any glitter), but it nevertheless failed in holding my attention. The two stars goes to the writer/director for daring making a movie like this. Wouldn't recommend it, wouldn't not recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The Terrible Truth
Review: You will not like it. There is nothing to like about this film. It deals with topics that are indescribable without having this review purged. The film comes with warnings all over the cover. People got up and left the cinema. People tried to boycott it and wanted to see it banned. It is an assault on morals. It is the darkest of dramas. It is only funny because a smile is all you can do to deal with what you are witnessing. It is nauseating. It is completely taboo. You do not want to tell people you saw this. You do not want to watch it with your girlfriend. You do not want to recommend it. You would feel excruciatingly embarrassed to watch this with your parents. You can not comprehend why anyone would want to make it. You feel that the actors have gone too far. You never want to see anything like it again. However, inside, deep down, you know that what you have seen is nothing short of the horrific truth about some people. You know that your parents could very well be like this. You know that your girlfriend or boyfriend may have some secrets like this. You know that your friends could well be involved in some of the topics conveyed in this film. You know all too well that the media reports on it 24/7. You know that PEOPLE DO THESE THINGS! But it is taboo, taboo and it is not you! Never you! How could you ever do such a thing or even think such things.... But there in the darkness of your soul is something that is not a hundred miles away from the topics that this darkest of film expounds on. The human condition and its western syndrome are all too capable of what is on display here. The fact remains that millions of people have experienced first-hand much of themes that this film covers. It is not something that does not happen. It does and they do. The media talk about non-stop. Any tabloid magazine is full of it. The telephone services have to deal with it - so do the police and social services. People even make money out of these things. It is terrible, awful, disgusting - but real. What most people fail to realize is that this film is all about the mentally ill who have very deep-seeded psychological problems that they can not cope with, without some help. These people can be found in any walk of life. As on display in "Happiness" those who suffer from these diseases of the mind are in fact everyday Joe-soaps and some with important jobs or are even authority figures. It is this angle that makes it all the more real and upsetting. It is this upper-class take on the whole problem that shows that no matter who you are, you too can suffer from these problems. Too long has this material been only played out in the hands of the seedy "villains" or underground freaks. Too long has cinema devoted these themes to prisoners and baddies and the elements of society who most of us never engage in. Here we see our friends, family, employers, employees, doctors and teachers all doing what they should not be doing! This is why this film deserves the acclaim that it got. It did the right thing. It did it the right way. It did it to balance out this topic that has always been dealt with unjustly. Honesty deserves praise and praise is what this film deserves. Say "thank you" to Todd Solondz for "keeping it real".
Rating:
Summary: the greatest movie no one should see
Review: I highly recommend this movie. Its a good old family fun filled flick. The wife and kids and I sat around the old tube with a big bowl of popcorn and a laughed ourselfs silly! My favorite part is when little Timmy finally cums for his first time but the dog runs up and licks it all up, and then goes inside and starts licking his mom!!! what a hoot!
Rating:
Summary: This Flick is Bent.
Review: ...and I loved every minute of it. =^..^=
Rating: 
Summary: not that happy
Review: I rented this movie for a date, under the assumption that it would be a good natured love story. After a nice dinner, my date and I went back to my parents' house and I lit some incense and we curled up in my Ninja Turtles sleeping bag and watched the "film." For one thing, the title is totally misleading. Nobody in the movie is very happy and the only character who I could identify with was Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It is nice that he is not getting typecast as a fat, awkward loser. Kudos to you Phillip. The movie is very good and the scenes with the dad and his son were very heartwarming. I think the dad is just so loving, that he does not know how to channel, or express his love for children appropriately. This movie is great, but I would not recommend watching it with your special lady because she will get confused and frightened. If you want a good date movie, I hear that the new Nambla promotional video is the way to go.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, my God!
Review: I remember saying that out loud so many times when I saw this film in the theatre. But, I have to admit that I've recently purchased this video. The director plays a very delicate game that borders between the outrageous and the disgusting. I'm embarrassed to say I laughed at some very shocking things. It starts off with a great opening with John Lovitz and Jane Adams. Phillip Seymore Hoffman has an unbelievable scence that involves phone sex and his wall. Catheryn Manheim has an unforgettable secret she discloses over a chocolate sundae. Poor Jane Adams plays a "strike-breaking" ESL instructor and on her first day her students yell at her "You are scab! We want Marsha!" Laura Flynn Boyle then tells her "plain-Jane" sister, "We're not laughing at you. We're laughing with you." Jane responds, "But, I'm not laughing." I don't know, maybe this proves a lot about the subconscious. Maybe it proves that humor is more about the execution than the subject manner. In any case, this is strictly an adult film. Although it has very little nudity and no worse language than your average PG film, it definitely has "adult themes." Unfortunately, most films are not geared toward the thinking adult. Great movie for grown, secure and open-minded people.
Rating:
Summary: A lovely look at humanity
Review: I think what resonated for me was Solendz' extraordinary insight to the quality of delusion-- either self-induced or reactionary-- that pervades modern life. All his characters in Happiness, and their interactions, are based to varying degrees on misconstruction, or misinterpretation, of reality: the fly in the ointment that acts as common thread and common ground for all. The perversity in the movie is just more of the same emotional/intellectual disconnect joining everyone at the hip/groin/head/hand/foot. They are all skewed. No one is truly able to see or feel the world without faulty thinking and perception altering the outcome. If it isn't their emotions getting in the way it's their thought processes.
I love this movie. Recommended for anyone old enough to understand it.
Rating:
Summary: The ugly side of life
Review: Now, I am not saying that this film is poorly acted, or unrealistic. On the contrary, it has very good performances and things portrayed in the film are as real as life. But I am giving it one star simply because I found it to be pretty much repulsive. I did not find it funny in any way. The things that happen during the movie are the ones that we often do not like to see in real life, because they are sick. Unhealthy relationships, perverted characters, obscure aspects of life are portrayed here, and to me, it is not a pretty nor enjoyable picture to watch.
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