Happiness Movie Review 1998

Very disturbing film made for the "love it or hate it" category. There are three middleclass New Jersey sisters--perky housewife Trish (Stevenson), underachieving Joy (Adams) and glamourous writer Helen (Boyle). Trish is married to shrink Bill (Baker) and they have an 11-year-old son, Billy (Read), who's getting curious about sex. His dad is the wrong person to ask since he's a pedophile who abuses his son's friends. Then there's Allen (Hoffman), one of Bill's patients. He makes obscene phone calls to Helen, who turns out to be turned on by the dirty talk. Suburban hell, indeed. Some riveting performances, especially Baker and Hoffman.

Distribution

CinemaNow, 4553 Glencoe Ave., Ste. 200, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, URL: http://www.cinemanow.com, Remarks: Formerly known as Lions Gate Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 139 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Black Comedy, Yuppie Nightmares, Sex & Sexuality, Family Ties, Shrinks, Marriage, Childhood Visions, Phone Sex, Family Drama

Screenplay

Todd Solondz

Cast

Dylan Baker, Cynthia Stevenson, Lara Flynn Boyle, Jane Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ben Gazzara, Louise Lasser, Rufus Read, Jared Harris, Jon Lovitz, Camryn Manheim, Elizabeth Ashley, Marla Maples

Cinematography

Maryse Alberti

Director

Todd Solondz

Music

Robbie Kondor

Producer

Ted Hope, Christine Vachon, James Schamus, David Linde, Good Machine, Killer Films