What an ironic title. If theres one movie that will make you depressed, it’s “Happiness”. A movie by Todd Solondz, who is known for making heartbreaking films, such as “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and “Storytelling”. This one gets so intense at times I could barely look, it literally took my breath away!

There are 10 different characters (and more) connected to each other, some very weird and some very lonely, but all in all, they try to find happiness. All the actors did a great job, from young to old, but Dylan Baker as the therapist/father/psychopath/pedophile, was the most convincing character for me. Loneliness, rage, sexual repression/obsession, disintegrating marriages, sadly sophisticated children, relationships built upon artifice, this film has it all. Got 134 minutes and a desire to see something darkly different? Watch “Happiness”.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkQ_JxoWUP8

The Plot:

When a young woman rejects her current overweight suitor in a restaurant, he unexpectedly places a curse on her. The film then moves on to her sisters. One is a happily married woman with a psychiatrist husband and three kids. Unfortunately the husband develops an unnatural fascination for his 11 year old son’s male classmates, fantasizes about mass killing in a park, and masturbates to teen magazines. One of his patients has an unrequited fascination for the third sister. Meanwhile the apparently stable 40 year marriage of the sister’s parents suddenly unravels when he decides he has had enough and wants to live a hermit’s life in Florida.