Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Happiness

  • 1998
  • NC-17
  • 2h 14m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
72K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,964
1,801
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Camryn Manheim, Jane Adams, and Dylan Baker in Happiness (1998)
Home Video Trailer from Trimark
Play trailer2:30
1 Video
44 Photos
ComedyDrama

The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for h... Read allThe lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.

  • Director
    • Todd Solondz
  • Writer
    • Todd Solondz
  • Stars
    • Jane Adams
    • Jon Lovitz
    • Philip Seymour Hoffman
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.7/10
    72K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,964
    1,801
    • Director
      • Todd Solondz
    • Writer
      • Todd Solondz
    • Stars
      • Jane Adams
      • Jon Lovitz
      • Philip Seymour Hoffman
    • 539User reviews
    • 113Critic reviews
    • 81Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 12 wins & 26 nominations

    Videos1

    Happiness
    Trailer 2:30
    Watch Happiness

    Photos44

    Philip Seymour Hoffman and Camryn Manheim in Happiness (1998)
    Lara Flynn Boyle and Jane Adams in Happiness (1998)
    Ben Gazzara and Elizabeth Ashley in Happiness (1998)
    Philip Seymour Hoffman and Lara Flynn Boyle in Happiness (1998)
    Philip Seymour Hoffman, Camryn Manheim, Jane Adams, and Dylan Baker in Happiness (1998)
    Happiness (1998)
    Philip Seymour Hoffman, Camryn Manheim, Jane Adams, and Dylan Baker in Happiness (1998)
    Philip Seymour Hoffman and Lara Flynn Boyle in Happiness (1998)
    Dylan Baker in Happiness (1998)
    Jane Adams in Happiness (1998)
    Lara Flynn Boyle in Happiness (1998)
    Happiness (1998)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jane Adams
    Jane Adams
    • Joy Jordan
    Jon Lovitz
    Jon Lovitz
    • Andy Kornbluth
    Philip Seymour Hoffman
    Philip Seymour Hoffman
    • Allen
    Dylan Baker
    Dylan Baker
    • Bill Maplewood
    Lara Flynn Boyle
    Lara Flynn Boyle
    • Helen Jordan
    Justin Elvin
    • Timmy Maplewood
    Cynthia Stevenson
    Cynthia Stevenson
    • Trish Maplewood
    Lila Glantzman-Leib
    • Chloe Maplewood
    Henry
    • Kooki the Dog
    Gerry Becker
    Gerry Becker
    • Psychiatrist
    Rufus Read
    • Billy Maplewood
    Louise Lasser
    Louise Lasser
    • Mona Jordan
    Ben Gazzara
    Ben Gazzara
    • Lenny Jordan
    Camryn Manheim
    Camryn Manheim
    • Kristina
    Arthur J. Nascarella
    Arthur J. Nascarella
    • Detective Berman
    • (as Arthur Nascarella)
    Molly Shannon
    Molly Shannon
    • Nancy
    Ann Harada
    Ann Harada
    • Kay
    Douglas McGrath
    Douglas McGrath
    • Tom
    • (as Doug McGrath)
    • Director
      • Todd Solondz
    • Writer
      • Todd Solondz
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Welcome to the Dollhouse
    7.4
    Welcome to the Dollhouse
    Life During Wartime
    6.4
    Life During Wartime
    Storytelling
    6.8
    Storytelling
    Palindromes
    6.7
    Palindromes
    Wiener-Dog
    5.9
    Wiener-Dog
    Gummo
    6.6
    Gummo
    Mysterious Skin
    7.6
    Mysterious Skin
    Kids
    7.0
    Kids
    Dark Horse
    5.9
    Dark Horse
    Elephant
    7.1
    Elephant
    Ghost World
    7.3
    Ghost World
    Buffalo '66
    7.4
    Buffalo '66

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Philip Seymour Hoffman based his character (Allen) off of Ralph Reed; the founder of the Christian Coalition, and a Republican politician. During a run in with Ralph, he told Philip that his favorite movie was Happiness. Little did Ralph know, he was Allen.
    • Goofs
      When the police officers are sitting in Bill Maplewood's house.
    • Quotes

      Bill: I wake up happy, feeling good... but then I get very depressed, because I'm living in reality.

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Godzilla/Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas/Bulworth/The Horse Whisperer (1998)
    • Soundtracks
      Soave sia il vento from Cosi Fan Tutte
      Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Performed by Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Montserrat Caballé (as Montserrat Caballe),

      Janet Baker, and Richard Van Allan

      Conducted by Colin Davis (as Sir Colin Davis)

      Courtesy of Phillips Records

      By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Music

    User reviews539

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Prozac Cinema
    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.
    helpful•64
    14
    • A_F_Waddell
    • May 2, 2001

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 16, 1998 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Todd Solondz's Untitled
    • Filming locations
      • New Jersey, USA
    • Production companies
      • Good Machine
      • Killer Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,200,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,982,011
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $130,303
      • Oct 18, 1998
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,982,011
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 14 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Philip Seymour Hoffman, Camryn Manheim, Jane Adams, and Dylan Baker in Happiness (1998)
    Top Gap
    What is the Japanese language plot outline for Happiness (1998)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.