There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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 liked Happiness in some weird way. This movie is really interesting to watch despite all those disturbing scenes it has. You just cant stop watching until it's done, you wanna see what's gonna happen next. For that alone I give it 9, but because of some nasty things in the movie, gotta lower the grade by 1.8+

"Happiness" isn't very happy, it's quite a lethargic viewing process at times but it achieves exactly what it sets out to achieve - a constant state of viewing irony. Todd Solondz, the director/writer is all about pushing the viewer's boundaries and comfort zones.'Do you really love me no matter what?' a scene where Bill Maplewood asks his wife, Trish the very question we all ask our loved ones at some point. His character is aware of the depraved nature of his being yet he functions as a good parent, a respected member of society yet underneath he admits he's sick meanwhile his wife ironically thinks they have a perfect life and while Trish lives a life of constant comparison to one sister who is a success story and another who is a failure. Her illness is one of gratification by this very daily contrast.Helen's character is one who has the admiration, the success and attention of everybody yet she's still not happy, to her own detriment, as her self-critical nature will not allow happiness, with a scene where she repeats to herself "I'm zero, I'm no good. I'm nothing, nothing." then without a beat the phone rings giving her exactly what she wants, Allen describing exactly how she feels "You are empty. You are a zero. You are a black hole.'Philip Seymour Hoffman's character Allen is a great example of how many men live their lives. Feeling like outsiders, almost alien to beautiful women. His character is one of considerable irony as he mentions early in the film "See if she only knew how I felt. deep down if I really cared for her, respected her. She would love me back." Is this line full of deep despair but more importantly irony as Allen gratifies his sexual desires by cold calling random women speaking to them in degrading ways to satisfy his sexual needs yet he can't even say more than a hello in person.Even Joy's character, one of sadness and melancholy where nothing seems to go right for her seems to have been doomed right from the beginning for just having the name Joy. Happiness is a great movie overall, a great cast and it serves as unique work of cinema as there aren't many films like it.How do you feel at the end?, well unlike Bill's character after his dream, you don't wake up happy, feeling good.you get very depressed, because you're back living in reality.

Similar to how movie critics make something relevant all of sudden, they will likely to do this to movie primarily because its dark and honest and really beat many other movie to that weird "indie-dark-mumblecore bullshit" i'm mainly putting this hear so I have proof later to call reddit, and other stupid movie lovers on their bullshit of following whatever Hollywood tells them is good.It's a good film that will get it's mainstream praise eventually, its just thats is already good it doesn't need mainstream praise, if some movie critic in the future brings this movie out to the public eye again, it will only be because they are trying to seem more "informative" and trying to making a name for themselves.