February 14, 2025

FILMHOUNDS Magazine

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A Perfect Black Comedy — Happiness (Blu-ray Review)

Image: © Criterion Collection

One of the most complimentary things you can say about Todd Solondz's unforgettable, funny, but utterly terrifying film, Happiness, is that it makes Magnolia look like a lighthearted drama—which is not something that can in any other instance be levelled at Paul Thomas Anderson's similarly mosaic 90's masterpiece. From the opening of Happiness, in which a man proclaims himself to be “champagne” and his ex-girlfriend to be “shit” (to her face), to its jaw-dropping and difficult-to-watch conclusion, Solondz strikes a tone between daring humour and deadly serious drama that is matched by few other films. A second compliment you can give Happiness is that it feels like a combination of the sordid suburban surrealism of David Lynch with the dark, knife-edge humour of Martin McDonagh.

In the aforementioned opening scene, Joy Maplewood (a standout Jane Adams) is the woman who is insulted after she breaks up with her boyfriend. The youngest sister of three, Joy struggles with loneliness and a lack of direction in her life, in which she has just turned thirty. Happiness tracks Joy and the people she meets along the way in her life, as it does with the other members of her family: eldest sister Trish (Cynthia Stevenson), middle child Helen (Lara Flynn Boyle), and their recently separated (not divorced) parents, Lenny (Ben Gazzara) and Mona (Louise Lasser). The ups and downs of this family's life mainly consist of the latter, making it clear that Solondz's titling of the film is meant in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.

This sort of twisted juxtaposition extends far beyond the title of Happiness; it reaches into Solondz's script and Robbie Kondor's upbeat original score. Throughout the film, Solondz screenplay sees characters in classically suburban, usually happy environments, only to unleash a sense of suffering or depression into proceedings. Kondor's score, for example, which consists of twinkling piano and sentimental strings, accompanies many haunting moments, such as a gun massacre dream. It is this presentation of horrible, unsavoury topics—most notably, one of the main plots of Happiness focuses on paedophilia—that made Solondz's film so controversial upon release, but also so uncomfortably, inexplicably watchable 25 years on.

It could be said that Solondz, who had already demonstrated his propensity for dark comedy in 1995 with Welcome to the Dollhouse, sometimes opts for nothing more than mere shock value in Happiness. The explicit subject matter, and the scenes themselves, will be hard to stomach for some, but Solondz never reduces the effect of these dark moments to something mocking. If anything, by injecting these scenes with levity and humour, he amplifies their disturbing nature whilst also highlighting the shocking depths of the seemingly normal human soul.

Solondz's dynamite screenplay is elevated to the highest standard by a staggering ensemble. Aside from the Maplewood family, the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Camryn Manheim, and Dylan Baker add their own unique something to Happiness. Each character is deeply varied, as is the film itself, which is simultaneously a twisted romance, horrifying abuse drama, and messed-up coming-of-age story. In that sense, Happiness is hard to define, and by the end of it, you don't know whether to laugh or cry, so it's likely you'll just end up doing both.

Special Features

  • New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Maryse Alberti, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one with the film and special features
  • New conversation between director Todd Solondz and filmmaker Charlotte Wells
  • New interview with actor Dylan Baker
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by novelist and screenwriter Bruce Wagner
  • New cover based on original poster art by Daniel Clowes

Crumb is available as part of the .