# Happiness (1998)

### reviewed by
Greg King

HAPPINESS (R). (October Films/Dendy Films) Director: Todd Solondz Stars: Jane Adams, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle, Ben Gazzara, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cynthia Stephenson, Camryn Manheim, Jared Harris, Louise Lasser, Elizabeth Ashley, Rufus Read, Jon Lovitz, Dan Moran, Evan Silverberg, Matt Malloy Running time: 135 minutes.

Todd Solondz is one of America's few truly independent directors, who doesn't bow to convention or safe formulas. In his debut film, Welcome To The Dollhouse, Solondz looked at a dysfunctional New Jersey family largely through the eyes of the troubled teenage daughter. In his disquieting and confronting new black comedy Happiness, Solondz yet again taps into the lives of a dysfunctional family from suburban New Jersey and unearths more rich and fertile material. Here he also deliberately pushes back the envelope and tackles some of the few remaining cinematic taboos - including masturbation and paedophilia - in a brave, frank and forthright fashion. Although he is tackling some important themes and issues, many in the audience will find elements of Happiness disturbing.

It is a pretty ironic title, as all the characters here are looking for happiness, but never seem to find it. Love often ends in betrayal and hurt and bitterness. Solondz seems to tap into much that is wrong with personal relationships and families in the latter part of the 1990's. For him, sex is not the answer, it seems to be an integral part of the problem. The film concentrates mainly on the three Jordan sisters, and the narrative follows their interrelated stories without glossy embellishments or unrealistic or melodramatic plot devices.

The film unfolds mainly as a series of conversations, which reveal much about the various characters. There is a sense of real pain and anguish lurking just beneath the surface of their seemingly content and fulfilled lives. There is an aching loneliness, as they are all desperately trying to make a connection in a largely uncaring world.

Trish (Cynthia Stevenson, from Forget Paris, etc) is the typical suburban housewife, who has no idea that her psychiatrist husband Bill (Dylan Baker, from Murder One, etc) harbours a secret lust for young boys. A seemingly normal family man and father of three, Bill turns out to be a paedophile who coldly preys on the vulnerable friends of his 11 year old son. We watch, appalled yet morbidly fascinated, as he drugs his own family one night so that he can take advantage of the young boy who is sleeping over. While we never actually see Bill's actions on screen, Solondz still paints a pretty chilling picture of him as a predator, without remorse or compunction. While Adrian Lyne's remake of Lolita is currently attracting controversy for its depiction of a man's torrid affair with his 12 year old stepdaughter, Happiness seems to have slipped in under the guard of the self-appointed and self-important moral watchdogs.

Trish's sister, the self-absorbed and bitchy Helen (Lara Flynn Boyle, from Twin Peaks, etc) is a best selling author full of self loathing and pity, who looks down on her two sisters. She develops a relationship with an obscene phone caller (Philip Seymour Hoffman, also appearing opposite Robin Williams in the far more mainstream comedy Patch Adams), who turns out to be her next door neighbour. Taking a plunge, she decides to invites him in one evening. The meeting unfolds in an uncomfortable, embarrassing silence that is abruptly ended when she throws him out of her apartment, declaring that he is not her type. Helen's other neighbour is Kristina (The Practice's Camryn Manheim), a lonely and overweight murderess.

The other sister, Joy (Jane Adams, from Kansas City, etc), is the pitiful, insecure and naive loser who lurches from one hapless and unsatisfactory encounter to the next, yet remains full of optimism. Solondz also introduces us to their parents (Ben Gazzara and Louise Lasser), who live in Florida, but are in the throes of a separation after forty years of marriage.

Happiness has something of an Altmanesque quality to it, as Solondz draws together with deceptive ease and skill the disparate plots and characters. Solondz draws wonderful and perceptive performances from his ensemble cast that bring this collection of colourful losers to life. Especially good is Baker, who gets under the skin of his character and manages to make him more sympathetic than you would expect.

Happiness is, by turns, sardonic, cruel, relentlessly uncompromising, earthy, funny, poignant, honest, confronting, compassionate, insightful, uncomfortable, bleak, despairing, and challenging. Many may well find it tasteless and shocking. Solondz balances his observations about life, love and other bruises with humour and casual horror. Some scenes are excruciatingly uncomfortable to watch. Happiness is a powerful and provocative film that cuts close to the bone, yet lingers in the mind long after the final credits.

    ***
    greg king
    http://www.netau.com.au/gregking

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