Happiness (1998)

"How are you? Are you all right?" "Yes, I'm fine, thanks."

Have you ever answered this kind of question with 'No'?
Most people don't (like to) talk about their mental or physical condition ... at least not truthfully.

In Todd Solondz' off beat-ensemble drama "Happiness" all of the various different characters
are not feeling fine inside at all but will probably deny or at least downplay this fact when they are confronted with it. They are trapped and try to find a way out.

A wonderful prolog perfectly sets the mood for the next two hours.
Joy Jordan (Jane Adams) one of the main characters (ironically her name is "joy") is an introverted, naive, insecure young woman. In her freetime she writes and sings lines like "Happiness what are you? I haven't got a clue" (though she probably tells people she might start a musical career one day).
She is sitting at a dinner table and asks her current partner Andy if he is okay. He affirms.
His facial expression tells us that this is not the truth. He is close to tears. Joy is not joyful either.
They are just about to break up. He gives her a hint that this is a mistake she may regret for the rest of her life. It's only one of many scenes that apruptly changes the tone in the course of the conversation. Sadness is crossed with irony throughout the film.

The story centers around Joy's family; two older sisters, her parents and the people around them.

All have different problems in their life. They struggle with issues like alienation, fame, beauty, puberty, (sexual) obsessions, loneliness and unrealized desires. Whatever it is for each of the film's  individuals, they can't really handle it, at least not on their own, and the result is depression, despair and even social exclusion.

Allen (Philipp Seymour Hoffman) who lives alone in a small, dark appartement has sexual fantasies about the woman next door but is convinced that he will never ever get her. The lack of self-assurance made him live out his obsessions secretely or drown them in alcohol. He thinks he is a boring loser as he admits to his psychiatrist Bill (Dylan Baker), who is the husband of Trish (Cynthia Stevenson), one of Joy's sisters. She doesn't know that her husband is mentally ill himself. Their son is an eleven year old, insecure and obese boy who fears about the stage of his bodily changes.

Helen, played by Lara Flynn Boyle, is Joy's second sister. She is a popular writer and has a fulfilled sex life but no true, honest relationship. There is something missing in her life and she is aware of that emotional emptiness. Still her success makes her feel superior particularly to Joy. She is also the woman Allen is dreaming of.
What Allen doesn't realize in his desire for her is that there is another equally troubled woman who may not be as physically attractive as Helen but is therefore offering real interest.

Yet another storyline involves the parents of the three sisters, who are married for decades but now, maybe for reasons of monotony and communication breakdown and lack of passion the father wants to leave the mother to be alone for a while. Their story is the least compelling among all of these very exciting strands.

They all share the thing they actually need and search for deep inside: someone who understands and accepts them. Someone to be inspired by, someone to talk to, someone to really love. To put it simple: Happiness. A universal quest everyone can relate to.

As the film goes by we see the characters dealing with their lives in funny to sad to even disturbing detail. Some of the events they run into will affect and change them for the better some for the worse.
Some people might just give up.

If you can you should do something about your situation yourself. Sometimes time will heal your wounds. Cold comfort for change is a bad trade though, that's for sure. But sometimes a change might as well kick you out of the line.

What a film depicts doesn't make it good or bad, but what it is about. Hence you should stay with this one even if some of it is pretty depraved and grotesque and might turn you off.
Are some of these people freaks? Sure. But though the film is taking it to extremes these are no cartoon characters. This is probably closer to reality than anyone wants to admit. Everyone has his secrets. And everyone is looking for fulfillment in his own way.
Who knows what unbelieveable things exist around all of us.

"Happiness" is tragedy paired with subtle and dark humor. You may not always know whether to laugh or pity the characters. Maybe this movie even makes you feel uncomfortable by its end, but - to me - the film nevertheless doesn't deny us a tiny bit of hope and it makes you think.

The actors give tremendous, even brave performances. The use of music especially in scenes of tension enhances the atmosphere. A narrative like this is always hard to pull off but Solondz direction is tight and clear.

His second feature after "Welcome to the dollhouse" is an intriguing, complex character study, a journey into the minds of desperate people in a desperate world. It is strikingly profound, weirdly funny and surprisingly moving.

A magnificent piece of work for mature and open-minded moviegoers.