Happiness Runs (2010)

A young man named Victor realizes the shortcomings of the Utopian ideals on the hippie commune where he was raised. Victor's mother is funding the commune where the guru Insley hypnotizes ... See full summary »

Director:

Adam Sherman

Writer:

Adam Sherman

Stars:

Joni Barth, Kirsten Berman, Mark Boone Junior

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joni Barth	...	Rachel's Mom
Kirsten Berman	...	Jenny
Mark Boone Junior	...	Victor's Father
Joseph Castanon	...	Little Mackie
Richard Edson	...	Pete
AnnaLisa Erickson	...	Nancy
Shiloh Fernandez	...	Jake
John Fleck	...	Chad's Dad
Kevin Gage	...	Hypnotist
Hanna Hall	...	Becky
Zia Harris	...	Sam
Rutger Hauer	...	Insley
Loni LiPuma	...	Rachel's Friend
Andie MacDowell	...	Victor's Mother
Ann Magnuson	...	Chad's Mom

Storyline

A young man named Victor realizes the shortcomings of the Utopian ideals on the hippie commune where he was raised. Victor's mother is funding the commune where the guru Insley hypnotizes and seduces women with a technique he calls "running." Insley manipulates the minds of these women so that they give him their bodies and all their worldly possessions. Victor's childhood love, Becky, returns to take care of her deathly ill father. Victor, haunted by visions of Becky's death, is desperate to save her and himself by escaping from the polygamous cult. Preoccupied with Insley's free love philosophy, the adults of the community overlook the painful reality that the self destructive behavior of their children is most certainly due to early exposure to sex and drugs. To afford an escape, Victor tries to sell weed but is cut out by rivals competing for Becky's affection. Finally, Victor is torn between getting money from his mother who is entirely under Insley's influence, dealing with the ...

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Plot Keywords:

commune | guru | hippie commune | hippie | idealism | 

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Taglines:

Generation Lost

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 May 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Malibu, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,674 (USA) (7 May 2010)

Gross:

$6,051 (USA) (14 May 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Happiness Runs

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Becky: They never planned for the future. They weren't supposed to get old and we were never supposed to grow up. The lost, the unwanted, and the abused came here with the purest of intentions, to build a place where there would be no rules, other than a peaceful existence. There are no couples for them. For them, there is only the moment. They tried to raise us to be perfect in their perfect new world and for a moment, maybe it worked. But I think they finally saw their own shortsightedness and ...

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Back-up Plan/The Losers/Paper Man (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Happy House"
Written by Steven Severin and Siouxsie Sioux
Performed by Siouxsie & The Banshees
Courtesy of Geffen Records

User Reviews

Horrible. Simply Horrible.

This is possibly one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I rented it because Strand Releasing usually has some interesting movies. I can not believe they optioned this piece of junk. The story is about some kid living in a commune who wants to get out. The protagonist is not even likable, wearing the same look on his face throughout the movie. The gratuitous nudity starts at the beginning of the credits and does not stop. The massive amounts of drug scenes are so unbelievable as are the scenes with Jack Danials and beers when all the character's are looking for money. Andie McDowall was in another movie. This is the reason why Indie films are so hard to get made. This was just a culmination of stupid dream sequences, stupid characters and horrible acting.