Happy, Texas Movie Review 1999

Producer/director Mark Illsley's quirky little debut hearkens back to such classic Hollywood comedies as "Some Like It Hot." Escaped prisoners Harry Sawyer (Northam) and Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. (Zahn) steal a camper and assume the identity of its owners in order to evade the law. The trouble is that the owners are a pair of gay men who organize kiddie beauty pageants. When they arrive in the town of Happy, Texas, the populace thinks that they're there to stage the Little Miss Fresh Squeezed contest and greet them with open arms. Wayne is forced to summon up fashion and choreography skills not commonplace in your average hardened criminal, while Harry hobnobs with the local gentry while plotting to knock over the town bank. Romantic complications involving a schoolmarm (Douglas), lady banker (Walker) and a sexually confused sheriff (Macy) arise, setting the stage for a happy (but unnecessarily tidy) ending.

Distribution

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-1120, Toll-free: 800-723-4763, URL: http://www.bvhe.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 104 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Not-So-True Identity, Beauty Pageants, Heists, Escaped Cons, Texas, Gays, Small-Town Sheriffs

Screenplay

Phil Reeves, Ed Stone, Mark Illsley

Cast

Steve Zahn, Jeremy Northam, Ally Walker, Illeana Douglas, William H. Macy, M.C. Gainey, Ron Perlman, Michael Hitchcock, Paul Dooley

Cinematography

Bruce Douglas Johnson

Director

Mark Illsley

Music

Peter Harris

Producer

Miramax Films

Awards

Ind. Spirit 2000: Support. Actor (Zahn).