# Happiness (1998)

### reviewed by
Nathaniel R. Atcheson

    Happiness (1998)

Director: Todd Solondz Cast: Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle, Justin Elvin, Cynthia Stevenson, Lila Glantzman-Leib Screenplay: Todd Solondz Producers: Ted Hope, Christine Vachon Runtime: 134 min. US Distribution: Good Machine Not Rated: graphic sexual situations, profanity, nudity

By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)

If you don't watch Happiness closely, you might think that writer/director Todd Solondz hates his characters. It's possible to dismiss this as a dark, cynical look at a group of morally depraved nutcases, but Solondz is nicer than that. In Happiness, he draws an intricate network of characters who are all messed up in their own ways; what makes the picture work is the way it draws us in and forces us to sympathize with people who would typically undergo societal bludgeoning based on cultural standards. It's a harsh, shocking film, but it's also touching and often funny. In short, it's one of the boldest films of 1998.

Like many independent films, Happiness doesn't center around one character or storyline, but cuts frequently among a group of people who are all related in some way. One of the most prominent characters is Joy Jordan (Jane Adams), a neo-hippie who can't hold a steady job or a steady boyfriend. She's an incredibly nice woman, and very pretty, and really just wants to make a living by playing the guitar and singing. She has two sisters: Trish (Cynthia Stevenson) and Helen (Lara Flynn Boyle).

Trish is married to Bill Maplewood (Dylan Baker), and has two sons, Timmy (Justin Elvin) and Billy (Rufus Read). Bill is a psychiatrist, but he's also deeply disturbed: aside from having fantasies about killing innocent people in a park, he's a pederast who masturbates with the aid of teen magazines. One of Bill's disturbed patients is Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a pathetic man who describes himself only as "boring"; he gathers sexual enjoyment by calling up random women and verbally raping them.

If this sounds like a colorful band of hateful people, then my descriptions aren't doing them justice. Indeed, they are all people with severe problems, but Solondz observes his characters with sympathy. Take Joy, for example: she's such a nice woman. She may be a little naive, but I never wanted anything bad to happen to her. But bad things keep happening to her -- she gets used by a Russian taxi driver, an ex-boyfriend commits suicide because of her, her family thinks of her as a failure (just to name a few things). Every time something bad happened to her, I wanted to give her a hug. Adams is so perfect for this role -- she has a kind, sweet face, and demure mannerisms. And she hangs in there, even when everything goes wrong.

But Joy is one of the easier characters to take. It's harder to find sympathy in Allen, because the prank calls he makes are so malicious. Hoffman is a superb, versatile actor -- you might not even recognize him from some of his previous films (including Twister, The Big Lebowski, and Next Stop Wonderland); his portrayal of Allen, with that gravelly, fluctuating voice and squinting eyes, is simultaneously grating and endearing. Through Hoffman's subtleties, we are able to understand Allen. One of Solondz' greatest moments is halfway through the film: just when we think Allen is as pathetic is they come, he introduces us to a large woman (Camryn Manheim) who falls for him.

In fact, all of the performances are first-rate, even in the smaller roles. Ben Gazzara and Louise Lasser, as the sisters' parents, convince us perfectly of a couple who have been married forty years. Lara Flynn Boyle is wonderful as the pretentious artistic sister, and Stevenson is also dead-on as the wife who thinks she has everything. The most important performance in the film, however, comes from Dylan Baker. I was deeply moved by his performance as Bill Maplewood: here is a man that, by society's standards, is nothing but a monster -- he rapes young boys. This is all most people need to hear in order to hate someone.

But Solondz, while observing the act as a sickness, doesn't exploit it by making Bill a monster. He loves his son, and cares about his family. But he can't help himself, and while we don't excuse him for that, we forgive him. Ironically, that's where the controversy over Happiness is coming from -- the picture makes us uncomfortable by affirming the humanity of a man who does horrible things. Baker's performance is perfect -- he hints at his problem without making it obvious to his family, but we always know that it's right there, fueling everything he does.

Unfortunately, Happiness escapes greatness in the last ten minutes. Inevitably, Bill Maplewood is caught and disgraced. But Solondz shows us a scene in which Bill explains his crime to his son; this scene is deeply affecting, but in the wrong way -- it reveals things about both characters that I don't find believable, and it requires a conversation to take place that doesn't seem realistic. In fact, the entire storyline is hindered by this scene. Then, in an epilogue that feels tacked-on, we are exposed to some gratuitously low humor that seems like it belongs in There's Something About Mary. But most of the film is so good and insightful that any complaints I make seem largely insignificant. Todd Solondz' Happiness admits that real people have severe problems, and by making us like his characters despite their failings, he shows us in a very subtle way how nice it would be if were were all more tolerant of one another.

    >From 0-10:  8

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               Nathaniel R. Atcheson

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