HAPPINESS (1998) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Writer/Director: Todd Solandz Starring: Dylan Baker, Cynthia Stevenson, Jane Adams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rufus Read, Camryn Manheim, Louise Lasser, Ben Gazzara, Jared Harris, Elizabeth Ashley, Jon Lovitz, Dan Moran, Evan Silverberg, Marla Maples, Molly Shannon
Like a god, Todd Solandz circles around his characters in "Happiness," as if he were spinning some wheel where each of the major characters were represented, and then stops on one and fills us in on their lives. They all have two things in common: they're all, to some degree, unhappy; and in some way, they all get what they desire most of all by the end of the movie. Each of them harbor dark, deep secrets, and the materialization of each of them is the subject of this film. Meanwhile, round and round the film goes, stopping on each of the characters, and when he does, we see them as they really are, without any filter, their souls bare naked for the screen to behold and for Solandz and the rest of us to judge them.
Yet he doesn't, and neither do we, and that's probably the most refreshing thing about this film, amongst a pile of other refreshing things this film has to offer any audience that will have it. Back in 1996, the very same director shocked audiences with his film, "Welcome to the Dollhouse," a black comedy about a junior high girl who was the biggest dork in her class. That film bordered on sadistic at times, but still retained a quiet, observant, yet very funny atmosphere. I think the amazing thing about Solandz is that his view is not only hysterical and witty, but walks right up to the line dictating which side is sensible and reserved, and which side is flat out pretentious down-talking. And he doesn't trip over it.
In "Happiness," we meet a wide array of interesting and realistic people, all with subconscious problems they are trying to deal with. At the center of the film are three sisters, though they aren't the primary specimens, but merely the key to why these people are connected - there's Trish (Cynthia Stevenson), the one with the perfect family, perfect husband, and perfect suburban life; Helen (Lara Flynn Boyle), the gorgeously sophistocated one with a major writing career who nevertheless feels shallow and hates her work; and Joy (Jane Adams), a naive, almost vapid songstress who is pure and sweet, but in the very first scene, dumps her current boyfriend (a shockingly hilarious and even intense Jon Lovitz), and it's probably because he's an ugly dead end. He takes it sadly at first, then tries to make uncomfortably comic conversation, giving her a present he was going to give her later on: a specially-engraved, beautiful ashtray (she says "It almost makes me want to learn how to smoke."). He then shocks her by pulling it away from her, saying that it's not for her but for the one who loves him for who he is, not what he looks like.
While Joy takes a job working as a substitute for on-strike english-as-a-second-language teacher (they refer to her as a "scab"), we get to know everyone else, and discover their little idosyncrasies. We meet a man named Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was brilliant in "Boogie Nights" as the boom mike operator with a crush on Marky Mark), a boring office worker, a mouth breather who masturbates while making obscene phone calls to women. He's currently lusting over Helen, who lives next door to him in his apartment building, though another woman in his building, Kristina (Camryn Manheim, who just won an Emmy for her acting on the TV show, "The Practice"), gets a crush on him, even though she has very low self esteem herself.
Most shockingly, though, we meet Trish's husband, Bill (Dylan Baker), a psychiatrist, namely Allen's psychiatrist, who urges him to tell him all his sexual fantasies, but himself, keeps having a recurring dream where he walks into a gorgeous park on a sunny day with a machine gun. He's the perfect husband, though, or at least in Trish's eye, but in one of the first scenes of the movie, he goes to a gas station, buys a Teen Beat magazine, climbs into the back seat of his car, and jacks off to the pictures.
And down in Florida, the parents of the three sisters, Mona and Lenny (Louise Lasser and Ben Gazzara, the former who has not at all aged well), who've been married for decades, are splitting up because for the first time in his life, Lenny wants to be alone. Although Lenny denies it has anything to do with wanting to be with other women, this still drives Mona to re-evaluate her life, and maybe come to terms with the idea that, as the local realtor she talks to (Marla Maples - !!!) says, divorce may be the best thing that ever happens to her.
Once all these characters are introduced, Solandz, like a genie, grants all of them their wishes. When Allen calls Helen and does his usual schtick, she shocks him by replying with "I want to meet you." Lenny gets the separation, and finds he has attracted the come-ons of a neighbor of his (Elizabeth Ashley). Joy meets a Russian cab driver named Vlad (Jared Harris) in her class, and he woos her by playing an absolutely riot-inducing cover of "You Light Up My Life" one night at her house (the joke is that it works). Most unsettling of all, Bill gets a crush on one of his son's friends, organizes a sleepover for the two, and in a scene that is eerily comic in its enactment, Bill attempts to drug the family and the boy, and then have his way with him...though it hardly goes as planned.
"Happiness" is an unsettling shocker, filled with insights about humanity and our internal desire to be happy at all costs, and set up around scenes that are created to shock the audience. Cum shots (in fact, 2 or 3 of them). Pedophilia (though it is never seen on screen). Even Bill's numerous discussions with his son (Rufus Read) about sexual awakening, including frank conversations about masturbation, which come off as creepy as anything this year (I just thank my dad for not having these discussions with me when I was growing up). One would think Solandz would take advantage of these people, make them fodder for some kind of satirical insight into humanity.
But he doesn't. Solandz keeps a droll but distanced view on all of them, not at all judging them for what they do, and sympathizing with them enough that they come off as human beings but not too much that his depictions become clouded. There's no main character, and there's no real narrative voice other than his own. He never looks down on these people for being evil or unhappy or whatever, but merely sees them for what they are: people struggling to become happy.
Solandz's tone is reserved, but he still allows tons of comedy to seep through. His scenes have a curious and wicked detachment, and his characters are human enough to be funny most of the time. He shows he's a master of pop culture skewering by taking the horrible 80s Air Supply song "I'm All Out of Love" and turning it into a hilarious love song, then laces it with a curious sweetness I didn't think he was possible of before this movie. Though his characters are humorously drawn, he still manages to make them human, though, which may be the film's strongest aspect. Despite their shortcomings and wonton desires, they're all still seen as people like you and me, struggling with the usual problems, and with the same ideals as all of us.
The acting by everyone is incredible, and it's hard to single anyone out totally as the best. Jane Adams, though, does the best job out of the sisters, making her naive Joy into a gentle and lovable creature, and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Camryn Manheim perform wonderfully in their respective roles as two people who may or may not find love if they can only get over themselves and their own insecurities (not to mention pasts). Dylan Baker has the toughest job, and his performance as the pedophilic husband is perhaps the most moving of the year. He dares to make him a human being, and manages to make his desire to succumb to his weakness one of the easiest to relate to, even if we're not relating to his own personal desire. Everything's worth it just for that scene where he has a wrenching heart-to-heart with his son towards the end, where he lets all the truth pour out without any filter. This guy's so good that if this suddenly became a huge hit, he'd come down with Anthony Perkins disease, and never work again, at least not notably.
Although "Happiness" is a rather unnerrving experience to watch, it's nevertheless essential to view because out of all the films I've seen this year, this may be the most truthful about humanity (and I know I've said that at least once this year), and may be the most shockingly disturbing. You walk out with mixed feelings: you enjoyed it, but then again, you kinda didn't. But its strength lies in the fact that it admits to not knowing what happiness is, but rather that it at least knows that happiness is not getting what you most desire.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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