Happiness
Last week I was priveleged to catch the original _High Noon_ on the big screen. Gary Cooper plays the everyman, faced with a life/death situation, and despite every opportunity to run, despite the objections of a scared and lazy town, despite the logistics detailing a hopeless situation, he stays and fights. He miraculously triumphs.
_High Noon_, alongside the stellar _Casablanca_ and _It's A Wonderful Life_, are similar in the base content, which is no doubt why they are among the most powerful films ever made. Each tells of a protagonist who, despite all objections of society, sticks it out, and does the hard, but honorable thing. Sometimes he wins. Sometimes not.
_Happiness_ is the polar opposite of the films I just described. In this film, we have a society that is peachy-keen, family-oriented, and "perfect"; we have characters who "have it all." But just below the surface lies the makings of thieves, perverts, murderers, and pedophiles. Despite all inclinations to secure "happiness", every character's moral failings catch up to them.
Todd Solondz, who wrote and directed _Happiness_, raises the debate with this situation (one of many): A popular grade-school teacher turns out to be a drug-addict. Should she stay or go? Initially, we side with the mother: this is a potential harm for our children, the future of society. But the father raises an interesting point: should the woman be ostracized for having a terrible addiction? If she could do her job without jeopardizing the kids or her health, while she fights to be free, then shouldn't she get the support of the community? Suddenly the issue isn't so black-and-white.
This father, played by Dylan Baker, is the pedophile in the film. He acknowledges he to his wife that he is "sick", but she is oblivious to his cries for help--she wouldn't want to upset her "perfect" family. Baker has an impossible role, and succeeds. He is indeed, a very sick man, but despite all indications of the contrary, is a loving father and responsible husband. His final scene with his son, is as heartbreaking as it is awkward as anything you'd find this year.
Another character reaching for perfection is that of Joy Jordan, played excellently by Jane Adams. (She's the sister of the wife, played by Cynthia Stevensen). She's still single, still living in her parents' house, and unable to keep a steady job. A former boyfriend kills himself. Another steals her guitar and CD player. She's by far the most sympathetic character in the film, and also the funniest.
The third sister, Helen Jordan is a sultry, successful single played by Lara Flynn Boyle. She's a critically acclaimed writer, but sees the shallowness of success, and is angry that people do not see her shortcomings. When she receives an obscene phone call, who insults her and threatens her with rape, she becomes immediately attracted to the caller, (unknown to her, he lives down the hall).
He is Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman, with memorable turns in _Boogie Nights_ and _Next Stop Wonderland_). We would initially want him locked away for good, but the film sympathizes with him. He is obese, shy, and socially inept. The best scene is when he finally confronts Helen, she invites him in, and they sit at polar ends of the couch, blank gazes.
There are many more characters here, but suffice it to say that this isn't kiddie fare. What's hard about reviewing (and praising) a film like this is that we don't want to admit that we can relate to these deplorable characters. We don't want to exonerate the sin that has become more and more commonplace in society.
Gratefully, the film doesn't explicitly show us the worst of these crimes. It miraculously maintains a light-hearted, breezy tone, coupled with Air Supply and Debby Boone songs. It is in this context that the film forces us to examine these lives. The "Hate the sin, love the sinner" concept hasn't been more in-your-face.
Needless to say, box office predictions are very low. I nearly abandoned seeing this film, before forcing myself to catch it at a second run theater. I couldn't have been more surprised. Despite every plot detail pointing to the contrary, that this is truly one of the sharpest, funniest, and most observant of films out there today. It deservedly won Best Picture awards at Cannes and Toronto. It is brilliantly photographed, which makes the material all the more heart-wrenching.
While funny, I cannot express how adult the material is. It is limited in nudity and violence, and yet it is clearly NC-17 material, due to its story and to humor that one-up's the jokes in _There's Something About Mary_ (both films cover nearly the same terrain). I highly recommend reading the Screen It! review (www.screenit.com) if you are cautious about racy material.
If I have any reservations of the praise, it's that the film ultimately sides against the caring wife, in the dilemna posited above. Of all the negative characters in the film, she is the one who is bad because she's so "good." Therefore, the script _must_ make her snide, haughty, and self-righteous. I don't think that's fair--"don't drink/don't smoke/must be something inside." Great satire is usually not sympathetic to the one who stays and fights for what's right.
Nick Scale (1 to 10): 8
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