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Happy Endings
A film review by Taryn A. Harris
Happy Endings is
an intelligent, funny film that takes us on a ride as its characters
deal with secrets hidden, secrets revealed and the consequences.
The opening scene really packs a punch
and sets the rhythm and maintains it beautifully for just over
two hours.
Don Roos who also brought us Boys on the
Side and The Opposite of Sex, delivers a film that makes you
think, laugh, cry and care about its characters. At the heart
of the film are three intertwined stories about love, family
and the ups and downs of life.
There's something for everyone gay,
straight, sisters, brothers, fathers and sons, adoptees and sperm
donor babies. This film makes you ponder your own choices, your
own skeletons and peccadilloes and yes, sometimes it's uncomfortable.
Lisa Kudrow is Mamie, an abortion clinic
counselor struggling with the memory of the child she gave up
for adoption and seemingly going through the motions with her
lover, Javier (Bobby Cannavale) the Mexican massage therapist
who specializes in "happy endings."
One day she meets Nicky (Jesse Bradford)
a slimy, documentary filmmaker who suggests an arrangement (read
blackmail) where he tells her where her son is, but only if he
gets to film their reunion. All this so he can enter his film
at the American Film Institute and win a scholarship.
Tom Arnold plays Frank, a wealthy widower,
whose son Otis (Jason Ritter) is a closeted musician. Enter Maggie
Gyllenhaal's character, Jude, a free spirited, opportunistic
cynic who comes between father and son. Jude is unquestionably
loathsome, but her sense of self is admirable and in the end
she is the catalyst for a few happy endings herself.
Steve Coogan is Charley, Mamie's gay stepbrother
and unbeknownst to him, he's also the father of the child Mamie
gave up for adoption. He was led to believe that his child was
aborted 19 years ago. The discovery of all of this leads us back
to the opening scene and the impact is just as hard hitting the
second time around.
This film truly belongs to Lisa Kudrow
and Tom Arnold, but Maggie Gyllenhaal (creepy, but brilliant),
Jason Ritter, Jesse Bradford, Bobby Cannavale and Steve Coogan
are terrific in very understated performances.
Are happy endings possible? They most certainly
are, but like anything else, it's all relative.
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