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Happiness (1998) 7.7
Ratings:
7.7/10 from 40,457 users
Metascore: 81/100
Reviews: 484 user | 134 critic | 30 from Metacritic.com The lives of many individuals connected by the desire for happiness, often from sources usually considered dark or evil. Director:Todd SolondzWriter:Todd Solondz |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jane Adams | ... | ||
| Jon Lovitz | ... | ||
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | ... | ||
| Dylan Baker | ... | ||
| Lara Flynn Boyle | ... | ||
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Justin Elvin | ... | |
| Cynthia Stevenson | ... | ||
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Lila Glantzman-Leib | ... | |
| Gerry Becker | ... |
Psychiatrist
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Rufus Read | ... | |
| Louise Lasser | ... | ||
| Ben Gazzara | ... |
Lenny Jordan
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| Camryn Manheim | ... | ||
| Arthur J. Nascarella | ... |
Detective Berman
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| Molly Shannon | ... |
Nancy
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Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Storyline
When a young woman rejects her current overweight suitor in a restaurant, he unexpectedly places a curse on her. The film then moves on to her sisters. One is a happily married woman with a psychiatrist husband and three kids. Unfortunately the husband develops an unnatural fascination for his 11 year old son's male classmates, fantasizes about mass killing in a park, and masturbates to teen magazines. One of his patients has an unrequited fascination for the third sister. Meanwhile the apparently stable 40 year marriage of the sister's parents suddenly unravels when he decides he has had enough and wants to live a hermit's life in Florida. Obviously, the whole movie is slightly warped in its viewpoint and certainly presents abnormal relationships among all of its parties. Written by John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>
Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
16 October 1998 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Todd Solondz's Untitled See more »Filming Locations:
New Jersey, USABox Office
Budget:
$3,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
£83,998 (UK) (16 April 1999)Gross:
£365,332 (UK) (7 May 1999)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
DolbyColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Composed and performed by Vladimir Mozenkov
Lyrics by Yevgeny Davidov
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Did You Know?
Goofs
The number on top of Vlad's taxi is 5C19, while the license plate number is 8H69. On an actual New York City taxi, these numbers would match. See more »Quotes
Bill: I wake up happy, feeling good... but then I get very depressed, because I'm living in reality.See more »
Connections
Featured in SexTV: SexTV's Most Memorable Moments in Masturbation History (2005) See more »Soundtracks
"Eternal Lighthouse"Composed and performed by Vladimir Mozenkov
Lyrics by Yevgeny Davidov
See more »
I recently saw my first Todd Solondz film, Welcome To The Dollhouse. What a dark ride!
This week it took a couple of evenings for me to get through Happiness. There was a lot to get. Goodness gracious! (As my dear Grandmother might say, who, incidentally, is not a candidate for viewing THIS one!)
I'd read the reviews for Happiness in 1998; I'd had a typically positive Psychic Movie Reviewer moment. This indie sounded unique. I waited for Happiness - sniffle - to appear upon my friendly video store shelves, but saw nada. I imagine that the store probably had like two copies maybe, displayed briefly upon a bottom shelf someplace. I forgot about the existence of this film, until recently. And I recently heard that a certain video chain had allegedly pulled Happiness from its shelves due to customer complaints.
Disturbing yet intriguing, this film pulled me along, the matrix of character interaction becoming increasingly more intricate and strange. Definitely not for all tastes!
The subject of child sexual abuse is handled matter of factly, yet chillingly and effectively. As with the domestic/sexual abuse of women, the problem of child sexual abuse is obviously one that crosses lines of class, social status, and profession. Happiness acknowledges this fact, in the character of family man/psychiatrist Bill Maplewood.
Loneliness, rage, sexual repression/obsession, disintegrating marriages, sadly sophisticated children, relationships built upon artifice, this film has it all. It's Prozac Cinema at its best: try to be on an even keel when pressing 'play'.
Spouses, parents and children seem to be communicating across a void.
After viewing Happiness for the second time, I realized that the entire soundtrack intentionally consisted of melodramatic, and/or ultra perky canned music: a perfectly ironical compliment and contrast in style with the strong, harsh, quirky film scenes.
Presentation: director Solondz sets up the viewer for traditional father/son talk scenes, via mood and pseudo canned music: giving the subject matter and dialogue all the more impact. WHAT did he just say? Ward and Beaver Cleaver never behaved this way.
Got 134 minutes and a desire to see something darkly different? Rent Happiness. Or buy it.