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Happiness review
:. Director: Todd Solondz
:. Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jane Adams
:. Running Time: 2:14
:. Year: 1998
:. Country: USA
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Ah, that wacky Todd Solondz again takes us to his sacred New Jersey to visit another lovable family.
In Welcome to the Dollhouse we were voyeurs in the life of a nerdy, troubled girl. In Happiness that girl has morphed into three sisters, and Solondz has upped the ante by offering a pedophile, phone sex freak, adolescent masturbator, Russian con, and concierge killer. Pique your interest? There are also three sisters: a lonely sexy writer wishing she had been abused to justify the pain in her novels, a luckless flake trampled on by men who is so persistent that you can't help but root for her, and a delusional sister who knows not what lurks in the muddy soul of her pedophile husband.
As expected, Solondz is relentless in his attack of middle class suburban life. This movie is not about gratuitous shock.You find yourself laughing, and it's a laughter tinged with uneasiness as you delve deeper into the lives of the characters.
Solondz has again pushed the envelope a bit further. Who would have thought that a movie about such wretchedly lonely people could be so compelling?
Anji Milanovic
 Movie Reviews: from 1998 to 2011
Reviews since 2012
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