Happy Accidents (2000) User Reviews

Interesting and Refreshingly New

[chron · 6/10 · 20 June 2003]

I tend to like character-driven movies and am quickly put off by movies that follow one of the familiar Hollywood stories. This movie successfully ventures into interesting and largely untested ground.

The story is about a man (Vincent D'Onofrio) who becomes romantically involved with a woman (Marisa Tomei) who has a history of co-dependence and failed relationships. He claims that he is from the future. The plot takes us on the journey of their relationship and her questioning of the truth to his claims vs. whether he is another in a string of loser guys that she seems to cling to.

The plot synopsis sounded a little odd, but it was my hope that these two talented actors could pull it off. Both Tomei and D'Onofrio turn in excellent performances. They present complex, interesting and flawed characters who engage our interest. The writing is very good and enjoyable.

My only complaint is the the story sags a little about 2/3 of the way through. A little tighter editing of about 10 minutes of essentially redundant scenes would have made the movie a more engaging.

I rate it a 8/10 and encourage those who like well-written, character-driven movies to check this one out.

Intelligent story line. Great acting.

[ilmr · 8/10 · 10 June 2003]

Don't rent this film if you are the kind of movie watcher/goer who doesn't like to have their brain engaged. (i.e. you only want car chases, explosions, bouncing boobies and bathroom humor.) You will be very disappointed.

I adored this movie and will purchase it as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. Why do I adore it? A few reasons.

First, it is not your run-of-the-mill story. The time travel concept is handled in a very interesting way. The "back story," the photograph, the "father's" phone number -- all keep you wondering as they do Ruby (Tomei's character). Too, I appreciated the way the viewer is never quite sure (until the end -- and I won't give it away) if Sam (D'Onofrio's character) is really telling the "truth" or really is mentally/physically ill. I had a roommate for seven years who was bi-polar and borderline psychotic. It was scary how true this movie was in terms of what happens to the people who are dealing with (at least supposedly) mentally ill individuals. The writing and Tomei's acting portrayed the enabling, co-dependant thing perfectly and how these types of relationship can spiral into dangerous places.

Secondly, I liked the fact that the whole movie (except for a few brief shots at the beach and the ending) was filmed with a hand held camera. It gave it an almost documentary-like feel. I think the intimacy of the hand held kept the viewer's focus on the characters, rather like sitting in the room and looking back and forth between them. It also underscored their emotions, thereby grounding us in their reality. It just sucks you in. Because of this I never got a sense that this movie was trying to be a SciFi flick, and I don't think it was intended to be. The jerkiness of the hand held also was a reminder, subtle or not, of the shakey ground these characters were treading both separately and together.

Third and last. D'Onofrio's performance. Outstanding. Man, he continually blows me away! His Sam had to be completely gentle and innocent on one hand, but very threatening and creepy on the other. Sam was so engaging and sweet at first but towards the middle of the film, while retaining those qualities, I was really beginning to wonder if he was a physical threat to Ruby. A fine edge to walk as an actor. And all the future and time theory babble was handled with apparent ease. I believed him. D'Onofrio has the ability to just melt into a character's skin, to completely transform himself. He gives it all.

(On that note, there have been many in these reviews who say he usually plays evil characters and are surprised by this performance. He has done a few bad guys, but it is his other roles I love best. If you enjoy his work PLEASE check out - if you have not done so already - The Whole Wide World, Household Saints, Steal This Movie, and Good Luck. All good movies made GREAT by his performances. In my opinion he's one of the best out there and very under-rated.)

The only thing I didn't like in the film was the score. It just didn't work for me.I felt it was intrusive and much too jarring. It seems like a misguided afterthought. For me, if I notice the score over the performances or it interrupts my ability to follow the story, it isn't doing it's job well.

It's a happy accident that I found this one :)

[ArizWldcat · 8/10 · 28 February 2003]

Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei are fantastic as this couple that are in love. Things are going great until Ruby (tomei) discovers that Sam (D'Onofrio) claims to be from the future. GREAT, just what she needs. It seems that she has tended to go for the "loser" type guys, and then tried fix them all of her adult life. She is in therapy for this. She is struggling to NOT fall for a guy with "issues" yet Sam is the best thing that's ever happened to her. I don't know if this can really be classified as strictly comedy. Yes, there are lots of funny things that happen, and funny dialog, but the drama is more intriguing. MUCH better than the big box office romantic comedies that are out there.

The man from the future

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 5 February 2006]

What happens when a man from the year 2470 decides to travel back to the past? He lands in the Village, in Manhattan! What a natural setting for a movie that wants us to believe there is a chance for romance between an evolved man who has lived in the future, and a single young woman struggling to make a go of a career and to find the love of her life!

Brad Anderson, a director we have admired before, is at the helm of this sunny comedy that connects two dissimilar people as they find one another and fall in love.

Ruby a teacher from Manhattan one day meets Sam in a park, casually. Sam is taken with her and goes looking for her to return the book she left behind. Sam, who acts strangely, reveals he has traveled backward in time, something that Ruby can't digest too quickly, but his charm and good humor wins her over in a romance that could only happen to people like them.

In spite of their differences, and the many questions in Ruby's mind, the relationship between these seemingly different characters, are never quite solved, but it's easy to see why she is attracted to a man that clearly loves her. In fact, Sam makes a dire prediction about Ruby that fortunately never comes true. In the end, one realizes these lovers are made to be together in spite of the times they have seen.

Ruby is played by Marisa Tomei with the proper skepticism. The Sam of Vincent D'Onofrio is also right because he gives the character a whimsical quality that wins Ruby's love. The two actors have the right chemistry on the screen to sustain the comedy and our interest in it. Holland Taylor is delightful as Ruby's therapist. Tovah Feldshuh is seen as Ruby's mother, in a winning performance and Nadia Najani plays Gretchen, the best friend anyone can ask for.

"Happy Accidents" shows Brad Anderson at his best with his inspired take on love at the end of the millennium.

An unexpected delight

[retst2 · 10/10 · 10 August 2005]

The only reason I selected this movie as a rental was because Vincent D'onofrio was on the cover. I am a committed VDO fan and was not disappointed with this selection. This romantic comedy plays out beautifully on the screen and the element of time travel is handled with a refreshing spin of originality.

Both Tomei and D'onofrio provide captivating performances the range of emotions they both convey make their chemistry on screen very pleasant to watch and their characters very believable.

I also found the score to be an interesting touch that adds a light air of wonderment and mystery in just the right spots. My favorite spots were the flute solo in the beginning after Sam (D'onofrio) meets Ruby (Tomei) outside her apartment, it adds a feeling of innocence to a situation that ordinarily would not be described as such. The second is at the end when they meet at the intersection of Chrystie and Delancy after the much anticipated "moment" passes.

Please rent this movie and discover your own reasons for falling in love with it. You will soon find yourselves committed to adding it as a permanent addition to you DVD library!!

Refreshingly fine romantic, time-traveling movie.

[TxMike · 22 January 2003]

The film gets its title from a line mid-way when D'Onofrio's character tells Tomei's "it was a happy accident that I spotted you in the park that day." However, when we piece everything together, maybe it wasn't an accident at all, maybe he knew exactly where she would be that day. You see, he claims to be from the year 2470, Iowa on the Atlantic coast, where they have learned the art of "back traveling".

some SPOILERS -- Like "K-Pax" the viewer has to decide whether the main character actually was what he claimed to be, or just crazy. As the events unfold most of us decide that he really is a back traveler, for several reasons. First, he appears to know that she will die on a certain day, at a certain intersection in NYC, run over by a taxi driver. Second, he meets up with someone he claims he recognizes from 2469, who must have back traveled a year earlier. And third, it appears near the end of the film that Tomei's shrink is also a back traveler.

more SPOILERS - A side-effect of back traveling almost 500 years is that you have some residual oscillations which occasionally make things continue go backwards for short periods. The film actually begins with people and traffic in the street moving in reverse, then forward, as he watches from a window. Later, he gets nauseated during a dinner with her parents when he is watching food come out of the mother's mouth, re-assemble itself on the fork, then move onto her plate, not yet eaten. This ultimately works to his advantage when, in spite of his warnings, she leaves the apartment and is about to cross the street at the fatal intersection. He gets there and, as the speeding car is about 6 inches from mowing her down, he is able to back travel for a few seconds, just long enough to clear the path and save her.

D'Onofrio and Tomei are two of my very favorite actors and both are fine in this film. The story is captivating and very believable, within the context of a science fiction film. One of the better ones I have seen lately, a good break from the great mediocrity of films put out in recent years. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a good story.

Edit, May 2010: Just watched it again with Natalie and Andy, after alligator for dinner, and the movie is just as enjoyable. Funny, too.

Edit, February 2015: Just watched it again with my wife, on the eve of our 23rd wedding anniversary. It still has the charm of watching it for the first time.

Far-Fetched Premise Combines With Charming Idiosyncrasies in Original Love Story

[EUyeshima · 7/10 · 18 February 2006]

I actually think this 2001 low-budget, indie film has a quirky charm that's hard to resist, and credit goes to director/writer/editor Brad Andersen's singular film-making style. It's ostensibly a contemporary love story between two misfits, but he laces the plot with science fiction elements that seem contrived at first until they start to affect the characters tangibly. The irony is that these far-fetched plot developments are what make the movie resonate emotionally. The two people at the center are Ruby Weaver, a single woman with an unfortunate track record of enabling men to meet her lowest expectations, and Sam Deed, a stranger from Dubuque who may be either mentally ill or a time traveler from the year 2470. Ruby is immediately drawn to Sam's sincerity but when he confesses to coming from the future, she inevitably feels like she is recycling old behavior by trying to save him from his delusions.

It reminds me a bit of John Carpenter's 1984 "Starman" (where an alien takes the form of a woman's dead husband) and a touch of Hal Ashby's 1979 "Being There" (where an insulated gardener tries to make sense of the world around him). However, Anderson puts his own idiosyncratic stamp on the movie by making Sam's seemingly insane assertions credible and Ruby's attraction alternately frustrating and empathetic. The acting by the two leads helps considerably here. Suffering from premature Oscar ejaculation, Marisa Tomei has slowly recovered her acting credentials, and this performance is among her best as she dexterously brings out all the hesitation and vulnerability in Ruby. As Sam, Vincent D'Onofrio tempers his trademark intensity with a genuine sweetness that makes his child-like wonder believable. Holland Taylor effectively tones down her sassy persona to play Ruby's impervious therapist, while Tovah Feldshuh grounds the film with warmth and sensibility as Ruby's mother. The ending is clever with a nice use of stop-motion photography, even if it felt slightly derivative of the legendary "Star Trek" episode where Bones is stopped from saving a peace-loving missionary (played by Joan Collins, of all people) about to be killed. This one is more infectious than you may be assuming from the set-up.

WOW!!!!!!!! A third brilliant Anderson! (NO SPOILERS, just a plug!

[apspr · 10/10 · 14 April 2004]

WOW!!

I had heard good things about this film, had liked Session 9 a lot, and will watch anything with d'Onofrio. Even so, this film completely blew me away.

It's science-fiction for adults, who prefer ideas and emotions to explosions and goofy makeup.

It's romantic dramedy at its best, with two memorable characters portrayed by highly skilled and REAL actors. In fact both Tomei and d'Onofrio are close to perfect in these roles.

It's a premise that continues to develop over the entire span of the film, never becoming predictable or plot-driven.

It offers striking supporting performances from Holland Taylor and Jose Zuniga, and a flat-out GREAT scene with Tovah Feldshuh that's driven by subtle and moving screenwriting.

It offers memorable and witty cameos from Mike McGlone and Anthony ("just call me Michael") Hall. And you gotta love the conceit of a guy who fantasizes about being A.M. Hall during sex!

From the opening shot to the end, it offers countless felicities of mise-en-scene, camera movement, framing, and editing, courtesy of Brad Anderson.

And there's a final shot that manages to be both very subtle and emotionally complex, while still seeming completely inevitable.

I even liked the loose ends that were never wrapped up!

SEE THIS FILM!

Romcom straight up with a twist

[=G= · 7/10 · 19 December 2002]

"Happy Accidents" is all about Tomei and D'Onofrio so if you don't like either of them you can stop right here. The film is a romantic comedy which deals more with the struggle of making a relationship work than it does the sap and goo. And, there is a struggle because the male side of the equation is convinced he's from the year 2439 and has back-traveled through time to be with his NYC dwelling neurotic damsel. At issue: Is D'Onofrio's character a total wack-o or a real time traveler? Not your usual romcom fare, "Happy Accidents" mixes the opposing forces of reality and the metaphysical and comes up with a surprisingly believable story buttressed by two very solid leads performances. Solid three star indie entertainment for romantic comedy junkies. (B)

Surprising good

[blrunner2002 · 8/10 · 10 November 2004]

A great, low budget indy that was very enjoyable and well made! Great storyline which can keep you involved to the very end, and you should stick around. The movie should have had better marketing when it was released so that it could have reached a larger audience.

D'nofrio plays a great character that catches you and takes you on a ride. Marissa Tomei also shines. She gives another great performance as a concerned and confused lover, burned in the past and now wondering what comes next. You can see that they had a lot of fun working on the films. Check out the cameos, they're a hoot. Especially the scene in the art show. Rent or catch on IFC and you will not be disappointed

A Romantic Comedy That Throws You a Curve Ball

[zerogirl42 · 7/10 · 17 January 2007]

Happy Accidents begins like a typical chick flick. Allow me to sum up the first few minutes of the film. Women talk about their relationships and toss photos of their awful ex-boyfriend's into a box marked the Ex-files. Tomei throws a hissy fit every few minutes and acts like she severely needs Prozac. She's in therapy for her co-dependency, quotes what her therapist tells her to do, and recites affirmations to a mirror.

I tried watching it with my boyfriend and we turned it off after 10 minutes because neither of us wanted to see an overly dramatic, nutcase whine for 90 minutes. I decided to try watching it on my own. I adored Next Stop Wonderland, so I wanted to see more from the same director/writer. Happy Accidents isn't as polished as Next Stop Wonderland and I was very surprised to find out it was made after Next Stop Wonderland.

After the first 10 minutes the film gets very strange. It is definitely not a typical romantic comedy. All of sudden turns into a sci-fi movie about 15 minutes into the film. I knew nothing about the plot before watching it and I think that really helped my enjoyment. I can usually predict where a film is going, but not this one.

The pace is a bit frenzied. Instead of exploring dating like in Next Step Wonderland, Happy Accidents focuses on one relationship. The film is actually quite funny. I convinced my boyfriend to give it a second try and he really liked it after the character Sam Deed enters the picture. Vincent D'Onofrio is perfect in the role and the script is very creative.

The over-acting in the film is a bit over-the-top for my taste and there are some weak points in the plot, but Happy Accidents is really worth watching. Just know that it gets much better after the first 15 minutes.

Now my favorite romantic-comedy.

[grotchly · 9/10 · 21 February 2004]

My wife has had me watch almost every romantic comedy out there. Some of them are good, most are tolerable and a number of them are just bad. I tend to favor the comedy side more than the romance, but I do like a good romance, too. This movie had a lot of both.

Happy Accidents isn't a typical Hollywood-Meg Ryan-style romantic-comedy. It's quirky and unique. The acting is very good. Dialogue is fresh. Overall, it is very original. A fun watch where you never look to see how much time is left. Highly recommended.

Charming, a little slow, D'Onofrio miscast in my view

[antoinebachmann · 6/10 · 22 September 2003]

WARNING: SPOILER

A girl's new lover is either a madman, or a time traveller - he says he is the latter (as any madman would). This leads to a number of scenes where the alleged madman or time traveller oscillates between very imaginative/narrative (he tells her about the future), very charming (he tells her he picked that year and place because of an old beautiful photo of her), very crazy (he has moments when he sees time flow backwards, this is the equivalent of jet-lag for time travelers).

All in all this gives a number of scenes of unequal quality involving the girls, the guy, the girl's girlfriend, the girl's shrink (also a time-traveller, who came to evade taxes), all in present-day New-York. The scenes are of very unequal quality, and in my view a good number are so weak that they could have been cut altogether.

In the end guess what, the girl very nearly gets hit by a car precisedly on the day the guy said she would, and before that she sees a photo of her that looks his drawings of his memories of that future photo of her - so yes, he is a time-traveller indeed!

Could have been a charming, non-tech time traveller film. But the editing should have been much stricter. Also, D'Onofrio, with that face and build everyone remembers in either The Cell, or Men in Black (where he was the Cockroach), really does not fit the bill - completely miscast.

I gave the film a 6. With a better cast (mainly replacing D'Onofrio), a better pace (thanks to better editing), it could have been a 7 or an 8.

Very unsatisfying and rather pretentious

[Rozinda · 3/10 · 2 November 2009]

*Contains spoilers*

This is a most trying movie. The idea seemed good going on the DVD cover, but the reality is tedious and at time irritating.

It could have been OK if only the scriptwriter hadn't had verbal diarrhoea and if the female lead hadn't acted the part far too often in a fit of hysteria. We have to endure groups having arty conversations that have very little to do with the plot - at times nothing at all that I could see, and worse, are excruciatingly boring.

The heroine is irritatingly dim. She's had a history of loser lovers and when you watch her you aren't going to be very surprised about that. When her futuristic lover turns up, she's unable to listen to him trying to explain his situation because she's just too thick to understand anything much of what he's talking about. She doesn't have to believe him, but she could at least have some grasp of science and time so that the guy could feel he's talking to a woman with a brain. In other words, these two characters are totally unsuited - unless the futuristic visitor really wants just a bimbo? It's somehow not surprising that she has to keep visiting a shrink though she doesn't seem to improve from the visits.

The most worrying thing is why this futuristic guy bothered to come back to find Ruby, but I guess it must be that man thing we women hear about that men fall for a girl's looks, not her intellect. This girl doesn't have much intellect. I have to say this may be due to the frenetic way the part is played. Perhaps the actress could have interpreted the script with something more measured than that style which Americans call zany. Perhaps it was all meant to be hilariously funny but I love funny stories and I didn't find much in this movie that's really funny.

The hero tries, he really does. He acts the part pretty well. You can feel for him. It would have been good to hear more about his future time but we're told so little it's infuriating.

There are a few interesting touches in what's mostly pretty long-drawn-out and disappointing. I particularly liked it whenever we were introduced to other time travellers, particularly the shrink - yes, that was a surprise to me, very clever. But those intro's were so rare and so brief. Once I knew there were others around, I was waiting for them and a few more would have helped liven up the movie.

The solution to saving the hero from his problem re how to "stay" in "now" is one of those tedious ideas that "love will do the trick. It was so, so cheesy. For all we know, it may really be the solution to everything, but I hope not the way it's put over in this movie.

This is a movie based on a quite clever sf idea but the s has nearly all gone missing and it's very short on any interesting f.

Vaguely watchable if you are desperate for something to see and take a liking to the casting.

The issue of what happens if you change history by going back in time is always intriguing. A pity it wasn't treated more seriously in this tale, but I think this movie isn't aimed at sf fans.

Watch this movie again...and again..and again...

[pianogyrl · 6 August 2004]

I'm always intrigued by small titles, because sometimes they're better than the big moneymakers. This one failed to disappoint, especially because of the superb acting and camera shots. Vincent D'Onofrio(still "the bug" from "Men in Black" in my mind) did a wonderful job of stepping out of that role and into one that's believable, despite Sam's odd story. The first time I watched this, I was intrigued by the possibility that Sam may be telling the truth. Fortunately, K-Pax hadn't managed to ruin that scenario completely for me. The ending was a complete surprise and there were some nice twists.

I picked this up again to see if it was still as intriguing and to my surprise, it was. Even knowing Sam's true identity takes none of the emotion out of the film. I saw that this movie is not just the audience deciding whether or not to believe Sam, but Ruby deciding as well. It's a terrific inner conflict for her, as she struggles in the face of love and honesty after a string of horrible men. Haven't we all met someone that we loved and wanted to trust, but we didn't know we could? The time travel aspect makes this movie impossible but the characters are so real and deep, then the movie feels real and you find yourself thinking if only for a moment that it is perfectly possible. That's why I say that even if you know the ending, watch this movie for the quality that it is.

Worth watching

[yoyoyasko · 7/10 · 15 November 2003]

Rented the DVD last night and was pleasantly surprised. I liked the science fiction side of the movie. The two main actors of "Sam" & "Ruby" did a superb job!

I hadn't heard of the movie before. I'm glad I saw it on DVD simply because it is the kind of show where you might just want to replay certain parts you don't catch the first time.

-Neat Romance/Sci-Fi movie -One too many uses of the F word -Great acting -Worth renting

A chick flick I actually liked.

[chthon2 · 8/10 · 28 July 2003]

Ruby Weaver, a person who has made bad choices in the boyfriend department, thinks she's finally found a decent life partner in Sam. That is, until he claims he's a time traveler from the future. She plays along at first, but Sam's stories become increasingly weird, and Ruby questions his mental health.

This was such a cute little movie, I decided to by the DVD. The two lead characters were actually entertaining, unlike the cardboard cutouts in most romantic comedies i've seen in the last few years. Brad Anderson is a talented guy, and i'd like to see what else he's directed now.

Pros and cons

[Superunknovvn · 6/10 · 15 August 2006]

"Happy Accident" has a good cast. Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei shine in the leading parts. The direction is also good and shows a promising Brad Anderson. What's not so good is the pacing of the whole thing and the story itself. It's an unusual combination of genres, one has to admit that. Sci-Fi meets romcom, not too many movies have pulled that off successfully so far. "Happy Accidents" is quite funny and intriguing at times, but mostly it just moves on way too slowly and uneventfully. The story borrows a lot in style and substance from "La jetée" and "Somewhere In Time" and apart from the lack of originality there are also hundreds of logical plot holes in the script. You can ignore those and enjoy the movie for its good performances and the dedication of everyone involved or you should prepare for a decent movie with a lot of flaws. "Happy Accidents" is definitely recommendable for fans of Brad Anderson, but it's not what I would call an early masterpiece. Just an interesting little indie flick, that's all.

Well worth watching

[atlant · 8/10 · 22 April 2004]

We happened across "Happy Accidents" by happy accident: there was nothing worth watching on any other channel and the description of the movie on IFC was enough for us to give it a go.

We made the right choice.

This is a sweet little romantic comedy. I had never heard of it before through the mass media; perhaps that's because nothing gets blown up in the movie, no guns are drawn, and only a few punches are thrown. Instead, Marisa Tomei and Vincent D'Onofrio mostly interact with each other (as aided and abetted by Tomei's therapist and girl-friends). (Nowadays, does that make it a "chick-flick"?)

One cautionary note: If you've seen "K-Pax", you may feel "Happy Accidents" is a bit derivative, almost like a trip back into the past, but hang in there. If you're a fan of either Tomei or D'Onofrio (probably most famous for his role as "the bug" from "Men in Black"), or even if you're just looking for a pleasant way to pass an hour and fifty minutes, catch this the next time it comes around on cable/satellite -- you won't be disappointed.

One of the better films I have ever seen

[ddc4711 · 10/10 · 14 March 2007]

This is an excellent film indeed that has been somewhat underrated by many people who I know that have seen it. It is a strong character-driven story about a man named Sam Deed who traveled back in time from the year 2470 to avoid prosecution for his sister's accidental death, to resolve the issues of his life and to find himself. In our contemporary society, he meets and falls in love with Ruby Weaver, a woman who has had much bad luck with men. Sam seems to be a good guy but as this site's summary says "someone not of this world". She thinks he's delusional (but I cannot blame her, as anyone would if someone claimed to be from the future--- I mean as time travel is not possible, as of yet anyway!). However, Ruby goes on to appreciate Sam for himself and wants to stay with him, making for a definite good story line for a great film.

One of the greatest things of this film, at least in my opinion is that it is a contrast to many futuristic-style stories in that it has a somewhat happy tone. I will not risk spoiling the film here for those who haven't seen it by telling the major plot details or the ending, but it is a wonderful contrast to most stories involving the world of the future. Everyone knows the type, the futuristic sci-fi cinemas talking about in sometimes graphic detail of evil corporations and totalitarian governments and world dictatorships; the kind of films that seem to be designed to drain the hope from people. This film is a wonderful story of adventure, romance and hope and grand possibilities. The kind of film which can uplift one's spirits rather than drain them with evil forecasts for a future of world dictatorships and universal totalitarianism. Therefore, I have to give this film a 10!

The Terminator crossed with Somewhere in Time, but not as generic as that sounds

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 17 November 2015]

"Happy Accidents" is one of those movies you don't find every day. It goes just enough against the grain to feel fresh. Very much a romantic comedy (/drama?) rooted in science fiction.

Central to this thing are good performances from Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei, the former for his gawky weirdness and the latter for struggling to decide (like the rest of us) if D'Onofrio is really from the future or just traumatically scarred. There's always a new seed of doubt to be sown, which is what made the journey vexing for me. The mystery is way too drawn out, and it ends up just a bit of a slog But the movie does have its winning features (particularly Ms. Tomei) and a decent payoff once we get to bottom of all of this.

6/10

Happy Accidents a great love story

[JustMe2008 · 10/10 · 19 October 2006]

I loved this movie it was a great powerful indie flick. When you first start watching it you think something then toward the end you are stunned it is so easy to watch and Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei have great chemistry and light up every screen you watch it on. I tell everyone I know you rent it and watch it because I love it and it will be one of my best all time favorite movies. Even though there is cussing and inappropriate things it is such a great movie coming from a Vincent D'Onofrio Fan. If you like any actors that play in this film you will love it. It is a love story no matter what anyone says and even though the plot can be alittle strange it's very interesting. You will fall in love with it. Especially when Sam says I feel like my whole life has been a journey into your arms. That is a powerful quote and i give props to who wrote that. Rhiannon

What happened?

[bethechange-1 · 3/10 · 10 February 2020]

The ending was quite unfulfilling. Why did she die and then suddenly not die?? Very low key interesting beforehand but the ending left me more confused than the rest of the film. The two leads were well acted and made you want to travel the journey with them but there were too many unanswered questions about their relationship and the ending seemed gratuitous. Only a way to make the masses happy.

Wonderful!!!!

[scottand · 10/10 · 13 November 2002]

I loved this movie. LOVED IT!!! Unfortunately, it was released here in Philadelphia the week of the terrorist attacks and was lost in the madness. Went to see it with a friend I'd lost contact with and who usually likes edgier fare and he loved it as well. Great story, funny, engagingly paced, at times almost lyrical, and even a bit dark and suspenseful towards the end. A wonderful,funny and romantic date movie. Written and directed by a MAN. A man named BRAD!

Due of on video sometime in December 2002. Look for it.

*****out of*****!!!

Clever plot, well acted, nicely edited. Excellent movie.

[jbarker-10 · 10/10 · 21 August 2003]

I'm not sure what I was doing when this movie came out, but I don't know how I missed it. It's likely go down as a cult movie like "Somewhere in Time," because it's unusual enough to turn some moviegoers off, if all they do is read a plot summary. But it's great enough to want to buy the DVD and keep it in your collection forever. I just stumbled upon it on the Blockbuster rack.

It seems implausable at first. How could a romantic comedy be based on a whacko guy who thinks he's a time traveler from the year 2470? But surprisingly Marisa Tomei and Vincent D'Onofrio not only manage to pull it off, they make it credible and memorable. No small credit should go to the movie editors and director who made it all work with just the right amount of revelation at the right time, so when the movie ends it all fits together. Back in the old days they called that coming to a dramatic climax. Ya gotta see this one beginning to end.

Maybe it was the R rating only for langauge that turned some folks off to this flick when it first came out. Truth is a little editing could have made it a PG-13 easily and could have earned Marisa another Oscar. D'Onofrio was just so darned likeable in this flick, you'd want to nominate him for an Oscar too.

I guess this is what happens when great little movies get lousy advertising and promotion when they come out. Too bad. Everyone should see this one.