Happiness 1998, Trimark Home Video

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Starring Dylan Baker, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, et al. Released to DVD on April 27, 1999.

Writer/director Todd Solondz has single handedly brought life to the dark comedy genre through his first two films, his debut effort Welcome to the Dollhouse and his sophomore effort, the ebullient Happiness. Solondz's knack for comedy comes with his ability to create truly twisted characters and then place them in the midst of a situation where their eccentricities will leap out at the audience, seemingly daring you to laugh at the most imprudent action. Happiness' plot is rather tangential, with the camera following the lives of three sisters (Jane Addams, Lara Flynn Boyle and Cynthia Stevenson), one who is a successful and disturbed author (Boyle), one who is a dissatisfied housewife, who is married to a child molester (Stevenson) and one a pathetically depressed, out of work guitarist (Addams). The only negative in Happiness came with its many sub-plots that, ultimately caused this film to top out past 2 1/2 hours, something that could have easily been remedied in postproduction. However this was minor problem in an otherwise disgustingly humorous film. Rent this one with your sick bastard friends and laugh your ass off.