Beautiful, moving film.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Every now & then, a quietly magnificent film sneaks up on me & manages to both astound me with its craftsmanship & move me poignantly. "Happy Endings" is one such cinematic treat. Its power lies in both its contrasting simplicity of cinematography design & its nuanced, depth of character explorations. At no time in this picture was I able to "catch" anyone acting nor "define" the immediate POV for the director Roos. This fine work virtually "reeked" of independent filmmaker authenticity while managing to engage a Robert Altman-like immersion into the prolific ensemble performances which literally transfixes its viewer. The film compelled my desire to "understand" both what toke place & why it all happened the way it did. I was absolutely flabbergasted by Kudrow's magnificent performance...The camera loved her every scene & her acting went "toe-to-toe with the incredible yet subtle & nuanced 'performance to die' for by Maggie... I had to watch this flick TWICE back-to-back after thirsting for greater comprehension of each character's motivations...This movie is now ranked as one of the best, stumbled-upon 'diamonds in the rough/underrated gems I have ever seen since I accidentally saw "Closer" Hell, even Tom Arnold & Jason Ritter killed in this gem...

This is actually quite a intriguing movie and the three subplots were interesting for the most part. I had to pay attention to this move instead of just listening to the dialogue while surfing the web, because in certain scene the movie goes into split screen. And while the movie is going, the other side of the split screen has certain text that give more info about the characters of what is going on or what is going through the characters mind. Which I thought was sort of unique and didn't seem tacky and fit right into the movie. Sure the three subplots aren't connected very closely, but it's still a pretty intriguing black comedy with pretty good performances. It's a ballsy and creative movie that keeps the interesting aspect going until it's finished. It would have gotten a higher score from me if the plot was interwoven together more better.7.3/10

In her role as a sexy, unscrupulous gold-digger, Maggie Gyllenhaal steals this picture out from under the noses of her co-stars. Lisa Kudrow is excellent as the teen-age mom who gave her baby away at birth -- and she and her step-brother who made her pregnant are sympathetic figures as is Laura Dern as a lesbian mother. Maggie, on the other hand, acting the part of an amoral, ruthless temptress, ready to seduce a young homosexual then leave him for his wealthy father, is irresistible. I don't know how much the sound engineers are responsible for her singing and how much of the credit belongs Maggie herself, but she also produces several wonderful moments as a singer, edging her way into an aspiring band. Comparing this film to the work of Robert Altman is an enormous stretch. Happy Endings is episodic and overlaps several different plots but that's where the comparison begins and ends. Altman was a master. This is a journeyman's film: fun but forgettable.

Unexpected, intelligent, engrossing. I haven't been driven to recover my IMDb account to write a review for years, until watching this. A very satisfying comedy, beautifully acted, with Kudrow and Gyllenhaal standing out. The structure, starting in one moment, then moving to the past while giving the audience titles commenting, with reassurances or warnings, surprises and adds to the overall effects of an intricately structured, cleverly constructed story - or rather, stories, that connect slightly and dance around each other. Characters who in other comedies would do certain things don't do those obvious things in this movie; people behave like people, for the most part. What's it about? Lies, secrets, people lying to themselves, people becoming some part of the lies they tell; people telling the truth and almost always landing on their feet. Roos's titles are less explanatory than they first appear; the last one contributes to the overall feeling that yes, this is a story being told, and, like writers, good filmmakers often tell stories about characters over whom they feel little control. Showing that to the viewer makes the film feel alive, the characters more real. The music adds both a lightness and poignancy. A few sour notes sounded - the lesbian couple behaved in a more sit-commy, over-the-top way than I thought believable - but overall, this was a movie I was happy to be swept away by, and look forward to seeing again. Gyllenhaal shines - but they all do - I never imagined liking Tom Arnold in a role, yet he comes across as vulnerable, likable, and kind. Just about all the actors and characters are equally well-served. In the end, it's clear the filmmaker cares for them, faults and all; it's the message he sends with Gyllenhaal's final song. Despite fraught moments, broken relationships, gun-pointing, and big secrets, it's rightly billed as a comedy - human nature is celebrated, flaws and all. Just outstanding.