Product Description: When a young woman (Jane Adams) rejects her current overweight suitor (Jon Lovitz) in a restaurant he unexpectedly places a curse on her. The film then moves on to her sisters. One (Cynthia Stevenson) is a happily married woman with a psychiatrist husband (Dylan Baker) and three kids. Unfortunately the husband develops an unnatural fascination for his 11 year old sons male classmates fantasizes about mass killing in a park and masturbates to teen magazines. One of his patients (Philip Seymour Hoffman) has an unrequited fascination for the third sister (Lara Flynn Boyle). Meanwhile the apparently stable 40 year marriage of the sisters parents (Ben Gazzara Louise Lasser) suddenly unravels when he decides he has had enough and wants to live a hermits life in Florida. Obviously the whole movie is slightly warped in its viewpoint and certainly presents abnormal relationships among all of its parties. System Requirements:Directed by Todd Solondz Writing credits Todd Solondz Cast overview first billed only: Jane Adams (II) Jon Lovitz Philip Seymour Hoffman Dylan Baker Lara Flynn Boyle Justin Elvin Cynthia Stevenson Lila Glantzman-Leib Gerry Becker Rufus Read Louise Lasser Ben Gazzara Camryn Manheim Arthur J. Nascarella Molly Shannon Also Known As: Todd Solondzs Untitled (1997) (USA: working title) Runtime: 134 Color: Color (DuArt) Sound Mix: Dolby Certification: France:-12 / Italy:VM18 / Norway:15 / Sweden:15 Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: UPC: 031398702337
Amazon.com: At times brilliant and insightful, at times repellent and false, Happiness is director Todd Solondz's multistory tale of sex, perversion, and loneliness. Plumbing depths of Crumb-like angst and rejection, Solondz won the Cannes International Critics Prize in 1998 and the film was a staple of nearly every critic's Top Ten list. Admirable, shocking, and hilarious for its sarcastic yet strangely empathetic look at consenting adults' confusion between lust and love, the film stares unflinchingly until the audience blinks. But it doesn't stop there. A word of strong caution to parents: One of the main characters, a suburban super dad (played by Dylan Baker), is really a predatory pedophile and there is more than an attempt to paint him as a sympathetic character. Children are used in this film as running gags or, worse, the means to an end. Whether that end is a humorous scene for Solondz or sexual gratification for the rapist becomes largely irrelevant. Happiness is an intelligent, sad film, revelatory and exact at moments. It's also abuse in the guise of art. That's nothing to celebrate. --Keith Simanton
A Must See This movie reminds me as a dark comedy for personality disorders. Philip Seymor Hoffman does a fantastic job playing his rolse, as does Jon Lovitz, and the rest of the cast. Definitely a Must See!
Adequate DVD edition of the most touching comedy ever filmed Jared Harris' performance of "You Light Up My Life" serenades the main menu of this DVD. The fake cheeseball Russian accent and guitar strumming are sure to put a tingle in your tummy and warm you up for all of the sheer joy to be cherished in this film.
This disc's special features are sparse and typical of those found in early DVDs, but on the whole, they're competently implemented. Filmographies and brief career profiles of Jane Adams, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jon Lovitz and Todd Solondz are included. I can't understand why Lovitz was chosen for inclusion among these listings over Ben Gazzara, whose career and role in the film are much more significant. As usual, English, French and Spanish subtitles and a comprehensive scene selection menu are included.
The home video trailer on this disc is quite upbeat, and by downplaying the severity of this film's depravity, it's almost misleading. Really, I can't imagine how a comedy of such perversity could be accurately and successfully advertised.
Oddly, the disc is double-sided, with identical content (the aspect ratio doesn't differ) on both sides. I would have liked to see some nice artwork on it, but I suppose that this is a potentially useful feature if one side is accidentally scratched.
Todd Solondz Does It Again Todd Solondz follows up his brillaint Welcome To The Dollhouse with another great film in the form of Happiness. The dialouge delivered in the film is unique and somewhat racy but that's what makes the film intiurging. Dylan Baker plays one of the sickest charcter to emegre on the screen and Phlip Baker Hall delivers some funny lines as a sexually frustaed man. Not for all tastes but still a good movie
This movie is not in Anamorphic widescreen!! This is a great movie, but beware this DVD is not in anamorphic wide screen format -- it is letter boxed and looks really really crappy on a wide screen TV. What gives! I really hope the film gets re-released.
He tricked you Mr. Solondz is actually not a very original storyteller or comedic craftsman. I remember when I saw this movie I wasn't shocked or offended. I was bored. If jokes depend on the fact that they're offensive, that probably means the overall foundation is pretty shaky. I was amazed to see how big of an impact this film made on most people. It just proves that most people haven't considered all sides of things and when something taboo is presented in a comedic form many people are quick to call it "brilliant". If anything, I wasn't so much offended by the film as I was by the people whose outlook on humanity was exposed to be wishy-washy and corrupt by their reaction to the film. But then again, I think that was part of Mr. Solondz's agenda. He has contempt for the audience, and he wants them to BE guilty, not FEEL guilty. He wants to prove through the intended audience reaction that humanity is corrupt and that we turn our backs on our fellow man at the drop of a hat. As for me, I was just sickened by the fact that a rare opportunity to tell a harrowing story was wasted on predictable attempts at humor and manipulation. It felt very hollow.
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