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Happiness

  • Film
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Time Out says

Centred loosely on a New Jersey family of three grown-up sisters, their parents, partners and children, Solondz's brave and adventurous second feature takes misery, loneliness and cruelty as a given in contemporary life; everyone here is (justifiably or otherwise) unhappy with their lot - or should be, if they could only stop deluding themselves. Right from the painfully funny opening, it's a bible-black comedy of considerable assurance, but gradually the humour subsides to be replaced by a core of despairing human sympathy, most noticeably for the paedophile father whose heart-to-hearts with his teenage son come to form the emotional backbone of the movie. Very often, you're unsure whether you want to accompany Solondz on his journey into a modern purgatory, but you should take the trip; it's worth it, and something you'll never forget.
Written by GA

Release Details

  • Duration:139 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:Todd Solondz
  • Screenwriter:Todd Solondz
  • Cast:
    • Jane Adams
    • Dylan Baker
    • Lara Flynn Boyle
    • Philip Seymour Hoffman
    • Ben Gazzara
    • Louise Lasser
    • Jared Harris
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