Happiness (1998)
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Duration: 134 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Todd Solondz
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lara Flynn Boyle and Dylan Baker
IMDb score:
7,7 (79.525)
Releasedate: 16 October 1998
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Happiness plot
"Finding happiness can be a tragic comedy."
Todd Solondz dryly shows the all-too-human interactions of three generations of a family. The three sisters who have since left home are central. The eldest is happily married to a pedophile psychiatrist who has a crush on his 11-year-old son's boyfriend. The middle one is a successful writer who describes herself as "fake" because she was never actually raped. The youngest of the couple is told that according to mother and older sisters, she was always doomed to fail.
Actors and actresses
Joy Jordan
Andy Kornbluth
Allen
Bill Maplewood
Helen Jordan
Timmy Maplewood
Trish Maplewood
Chloe Maplewood
Psychiatrist
Billy Maplewood
Reviews & comments
Madecineman (moderator films)
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- 7484 messages
- 1718 votes
Well that's why you should never let a dog lick your face... 
Finally saw it then, somehow I kept missing this movie. Happiness by Todd Solondz is a painfully funny nerve treatment without anesthesia. It gives a bizarre and pitch-black look behind the scenes of the mutual relationships of a number of people who at first sight seem perfectly normal. A family with 3 sisters is central, with one having a more perverted guy after him than the other.
Happiness is a strong frame story that has brilliant acting and several brilliantly developed scenes. Solondz walks a very thin line between extremely funny and extremely painful, good decency is completely abandoned and nowhere does the film change into complacency. The film remains hard, cynical and sharp until the last gasp. As a viewer, you actually don't know what to (or may) think of the bizarre characters in this film. Of course Bill steals the show. Think it's the biggest creep on the silver screen I've ever seen... What a filth. Hoffman's role, as the ultimate pervert, is also brilliant, although I don't find his storyline with the (albeit beautiful) writing sister the most fascinating.
That is also one of the downsides of the film, that not every storyline appealed to me as much. Solondz also lapses into caricatures a bit too much, whereby I must say that I do think that Vlad is a genius character.
There is a lot going on and the actors and actresses are a joy to watch. It gives the film a high re-watch value. Rarely was laughter more painful than in Happiness. Nice movie!
4*
Translated from Dutch · View original
memorable
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- 173 messages
- 1673 votes
An arrogant writer who is solemn about subjects she knows nothing about, a rudderless woman who is momentarily rudderless in search of love and a housewife who, although at first sight seems happy, but does not notice in God what is happening. actually playing right under her nose. That together may be called a colorful mix for a film, and to think that these women are connected by blood. Larde that with a sexually frustrated telephone gash, a father with a secret preference for pederasty and a lonely, fat woman whose injustice of the world has become too much for her.
A remarkable semi-ensemble film, with absurd moments to make your mouth water in abundance and the great theme of all arts, the search for true happiness, as the overarching theme. Kind of like Magnolia, but unfortunately with a less gifted director at the helm. I just didn't feel like the director added anything to the script bursting with creativity. It has little expressiveness, especially on a visual level. As a result, the experience you expect from a film, and where a film can have an advantage over a written piece, is somewhat scanty compared to the brilliant script. Only the nectar of love that sometimes ends up on the wallpaper, now on the balustrade, was cinematographically strong. The ending quote of the film may be called one for everlasting memory.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Onderhond
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- 87629 messages
- 12905 votes
Still very nice after review.
Although things have changed a bit since the first viewing. My often complains that everything has become woke and you can no longer laugh at anything, yet you find humor nowadays that is a lot harder and darker than when this film came out. Not so much in the movie world itself, but there are still a number of stand-ups whose material I would not have seen work 20 years ago.
What I did get more of this time was the tragedy of the characters. I still don't find them very sympathetic and there isn't much compassion, but it does make the humor all the more painful (and funnier). And that is where Solondz excels. The only one who actually comes close is Eduardo Casanova I think, but his world is a lot crazier and more absurd.
It is a pity that the film looks broken and the soundtrack is only half-baked, Solondz could certainly have made some extra profit there. With many memorable scenes, characters and acting. I think the ice cream scene was my favorite.
4.0* and a extended review
Translated from Dutch · View originalPre- and sequels
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