Happy, Texas Directed by: Mark Illsley Starring: Jeremy Northam, Steve Zahn, Ally Walker, Illeana Douglas, William H. Macy Running time: 100 minutes My rating (5 star scale): ****
Harry, a con man, (Northam) and Wayne Wayne Wayne, a car thief, (Zahn) are prisoners working on a chain gang in Texas. They fight with a third prisoner and all three find themselves free due to a freak accident. Harry and Wayne steal a van belonging to a gay couple, David and Steven. Soon they find themselves in Happy, Texas and mistaken for the gay duo by the local police chief (William H. Macy). David and Steven specialize in little girl beauty pageants. The citizens of Happy are desperate to win the Little Miss Fresh-Squeezed Beauty Pageant and have hired David and Steven to prepare their girls.
Harry and Wayne decide to stick it out when they discover how much money there is in the local bank. They intend to rob it. The bank is run by Josephine (Ally Walker of Profiler fame). Things get a little complicated as Harry falls for Josephine, the police chief falls for Harry, and Wayne finds himself trapped with in a room full of little girls who expect him to teach them a winning number.
This is the kind of film that could easily be over the top and not funny. Instead, it is very funny. It's directed with a light touch and the performances are excellent. Some of the best scenes are of Wayne trying to teach his girls - who respond surprisingly well to his tactics. Also great is the date Harry has with the chief. Macy gives his usual outstanding performance (when will he get the lead role he deserves) and Walker is surprisingly good given her mediocre performance on tv. There's even a small role by Ron Perlman who always makes a movie for me.
I laughed throughout this film. It's well structured and makes the premise work. The laughs come fast and frequent and the plot loopholes are easily overlooked. If you want to see a funny film that doesn't focus on bodily fluids, see Happy, Texas.
-- Allan Jenoff Check out my web page at http://www.interlog.com/~jenoff/
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