Happy Tears (2009)

Two sisters, Jayne (Posey) and Laura (Moore), return home to deal with their ailing father Joe (Torn), only to face some surprising situations.

Director:

Mitchell Lichtenstein

Writer:

Mitchell Lichtenstein

Stars:

Parker Posey, Demi Moore, Rip Torn

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Parker Posey	...	Jayne
Demi Moore	...	Laura
Peter Patrikios	...	Driver (as Pete Patrikios)
T. Ryder Smith	...	Shoe Salesman
Christian Camargo	...	Jackson
Victor Slezak	...	Eli Bell
Melissa Ticen	...	Stewardess
Rip Torn	...	Joe
Ellen Barkin	...	Shelly
Julianna Conforti	...	Young Jayne
Jacquelyn Conforti	...	Young Jayne
Alyssa Klein	...	Young Laura
David L. King	...	Dr. Sims (as David King)
Aldous Davidson	...	Waiter
Richard Barlow	...	Mitch (as Rich Barlow)

Storyline

Jayne and Laura are about to take on the first man they just might not be able to handle: their seventy-something-year-old father Joe. Dutiful daughters returning to the house they grew up in, Jayne and Laura are forced to take a closer look at their own not-so-perfect lives while dodging childhood memories. Laura suspects that Joe needs full-time care, but Jayne hopes that their father's condition isn't that serious. Joe is still singing and playing his old guitar, and the lively widower even has a new "ladyfriend," shameless and sassy Shelly. But as the visible moments of their father's impending senility increase, so do the dysfunctional family dynamics. Tensions flare as the close sisters must also juggle their own very different lives - Laura's busy schedule as an environmentalist and mother of two small children, and Jayne, desperate to finally have a baby with her workaholic art-dealing husband Jackson. Their adventures back home are not without magic, mischief and mayhem, and ...

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Plot Keywords:

treasure | childhood memory | buried treasure | jackson | dysfunctional family | 

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Taglines:

There's an art to going home without going crazy.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, drug use, and some sexual content including brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

16 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dakrya haras

Filming Locations:

Oakland, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$13,011 (USA) (19 February 2010)

Gross:

$21,568 (USA) (26 February 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pierpoline Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

At 1:30 The toast at the dinner table, Joe Toast with a glass of beer that becomes a can of beer.

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Connections

Features The Mummy (1932)

User Reviews

excellent!

Saw this at Cinema Sundays at the Charles here in Baltimore.

The audience liked it a lot, from their reactions during the film and also at the Q&A. Parker Posey and Demi Moore play two sisters who are faced with taking care of their father in the house where they grew up. Their father, played by Rip Torn, is becoming less and less compos mentis. Not forgetting the wonderful Ellen Barkin, who brings humanity to the role of Shelley, a woman who has reached bottom.

The movie has some pretty trippy sections, a fair amount of things that make you not so sure what's supposed to be happening in the movie's reality, and what's just happening in the head of one of the characters.

It's primarily a good-natured comedy about people and how they get along. It's very funny, with some subtle and unexpected laughs. I can't wait for this to be shown in a local theater so I can see it again.