Happiness
HAPPINESS (18)
D: Todd Solondz
October/Good Machine/Killer Films (Ted Hope &
Christine Vachon)
US 1998
134 mins
Comedy/Drama
W: Todd Solondz
DP: Maryse Alberti
Ed: Alan Oxman
Mus: Robbie Kondor
Jane Adams (Joy Jordan), Dylan Baker (Bill Maplewood),
Lara Flynn Boyle (Helen Jordan), Ben Gazzara (Lenny Jordan), Jared Harris (Vlad), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Allen), Jon Lovitz (Andy Kornbluth)
It's a rather disturbing indictment that critics
absolutely adored this film- a black comedy about sexual deviants, perverts and paedophiles lurking behind the facade of the perfect American family.
It isn't particularly funny or quirky and it's
difficult to understand why these sort of shady characters would make a good basis for a film. It's all a little too offbeat and misanthropic for more conventional tastes, but certainly
impossible to forget.
4/10
