This is a subversively dark yet sometimes funny movie that on the surface seems to deal with a bunch of pathetic losers. Those losers however simply turn out to be every day people dealing with their own bouts of loneliness, obsession, and quiet desperation. Though we don't know it at the start, most of the principal characters all belong to a single family, handling their neuroses in the best way they can without making much progress. An odd aspect of the film is that it takes a look at human frailties that lead their characters into various forms of depravity without making a moral judgment, leaving that pretty much up to the viewer. For that reason, there will be those who abhor the picture and those who may take away some meaningful insight. Dylan Baker, as the tortured psychologist Bill Maplewood is a case in point. His portrayal is probably just a bit too candid for most folks, and quite frankly, I didn't see any credibility in his frank discussion about sexual abuse and masturbation with his own son. Maybe I'm naïve, but I'd bet if there were one in a million parents like him discussing such a personally depraved topic while implicating himself in a crime, then I just don't comprehend human nature. Ditto for Kristina (Camryn Manheim) laying bare her slice and dice of Pedro the doorman to neighbor Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman). On the flip side, Allen's behavior as a serial phone call abuser seemed all too credible and I don't doubt there are any number of perverts like him running around getting their kicks anonymously. The best that can be said about the film is that each of the players effectively demonstrate their own failures as human beings while striving for their own definition of happiness, elusive as that may be. Among the principal cast members, there's really no one who evokes enough sympathy to be considered a good guy or gal, so ultimately, a happy ending is deemed inconclusive. One surprise in the picture though was the appearance of the real estate agent who showed Mona Jordan (Louise Lasser) an apartment. I'd never seen Marla Maples in a picture before, and her identity eluded me until I looked up her credit for the film here. It made me wonder if her ex-husband Donald Trump ever saw this picture.

I've always stated that I don't like nihilistic films. I don't enjoy films that show the world as something ugly, depressing or mean- spirited. Usually this applies to thrillers where everyone is coloured an ugly shade of grey, where every victory is Pyrrhic in nature or everyone is a villain to some degree. But this film showed me that there's something I hate even more in a film. This film shows the world as something heinous, something perverted, something rotten. It's not depressing per se, except in that it will remove your will to live. Rather it's disgusting.Happiness tells about a group of sisters and the people they interact with in their day to day life. Their families, their relatives, their acquaintances, their neighbours. The film talks about the struggle of upper middle-class, or at least what it perceives to be the struggle of upper middle-class. It positions that these people are without a place, their lives hollow and empty, their purpose non-existent. It positions that to fill this gaping void in their souls, these people turn to perversion. Pretty much every single character in the film is a deviant of some sort. There's masturbation, paedophilia, rape, mutilation of sexual organs and of course dirty phone calls. Everything under the sun.And yet the film is amazingly grey in tone. It sounds like a trashy B-movie, but it's not. The whole film is like an awkward date with a complete stranger where neither says anything beyond the most placid of banalities and you're both happy to leave after the main course.The worst thing is that I cannot deny this film the right to exist. Art, any kind of art, is meant to help us understand the world. You can condemn the phenomena discussed themselves, but you cannot condemn the discussion that must take place about the phenomenon. Even disgusting films like this one are a viewpoint into life.But that doesn't mean I have to like it or agree with its message. This is a horrid film. Is it worth seeing? In a sick way, yes. But proceed with caution.

From the start, I hated this movie and didn't understand why a movie like this had to be made. I resented wasting 30 minutes of my life watching it-- that's all I could stand. Found it in the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" so I thought it would be phenomenal. Whoever put it in that book must have been bribed. Didn't get it, don't want to get it. I put myself in the shoes of the woman in the restaurant politely trying to tell the loser (Jon Lovitz?) she no longer wanted to see him and he flaked out on her. I could imagine having a date like this and it made me anxious even watching this first scene. Then Philip Seymour Hoffman telling how he wanted to brutalize some woman? Excuse me? Sorry, this movie was totally trashy.

I don't know what to say about this movie. It made me feel just about every human emotion a movie could possibly make me feel. A lot of people will hate this movie for its brutal honesty and unbiased take on several touchy subjects but, if you can look at this piece with a completely open mind and just let it flow, you just might enjoy yourself. Take warning, dear friend. For dark waters lie ahead. P.s. If you can't handle movies that are nothing but talking, don't even try. Or maybe just bring a pillow. This movie has long long long long long bits of almost casual conversation and these may put some folks to sleep.