Nice effects though.

Let's be realistic.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It's a sorta sequel to director Todd Solondz's 1998 film Happiness and the Jordan sisters. The characters are recast. Joy Jordan (Shirley Henderson) marries Allen Mellencamp (Michael K. Williams) who makes obscene calls and she is haunted by Andy (Paul Reubens). Bill Maplewood (Ciarán Hinds) is let out of prison serving for child molestation. His ex-wife Trish Jordan (Allison Janney) has to deal with her son Timmy finding out about Bill's crime. Bill starts dating Jacqueline (Charlotte Rampling). Trish is set to marry 'normal' Harvey Wiener (Michael Lerner). Helen Jordan (Ally Sheedy) is a successful screenwriter in California.Recasting everybody has the weird sense of an alternate universe. It makes this a weirdly unreal movie. I can't say that the actors are inferior but they are different. I'm not a big fan of Happiness and this doesn't change that. I can't find any rooting interest in any of these characters. Some are downright kill worthy. The discussion between Trish and Timmy is so pathetic that it's almost funny. At least, it was memorable.

Todd Solandz's films are generally hit-or-miss affairs, and the line between hitting or missing is generally quite fine. Always emotionally intense, and character-based, they can be taxing, even dull or pretentious, but hold the promise of being mind-blowingly profound. Solandz's magnum opus was Happiness, in 1998. An incredibly profound movie, it hit the spot. Palindromes, in 2004, missed the spot, seeming random and pretentious. Life in Wartime has the potential to be like Happiness, but is always teetering on the edge of being nothing-dressed-up-as-something, like Palindromes. In the end it is an interesting journey, but it never clicks up that notch necessary to make it profound. In the end you feel that the journey was a waste of time.

The last words of this film for me were absolute perfection. While this film did have its flaws, the things it got right made up for all of them. There are some profound ideas in this film that can be overlooked if you're too focused on the bizarre storyline. But perhaps ideas like this can only be accurately portrayed with content as explicit as this. Solondz's films are exactly what they appear to be. They hide nothing, and I think that's what turns people off. People want a fantasy. They don't want to see backdrops of Taco Bell parking lots and they certainly don't want to hear about pedophilia or about the sort of unhappy talk they hear in their own families hoisted up on the big screen. I admit I didn't really care for the 'ghost' sequences but they were certainly entertaining. The timing and subtlety really shines here, every actor was excellent. I really didn't know what would happen next-one of the big reasons I am a Solondz fan. That facet alone makes his films true to life. People call this a bad 'vanity project' but I disagree. I laughed out loud, I was shocked, amazed, and at the end of the last scene I was literally breathless.

I am only 25, but crap like this gets me nostalgic for times when movies aimed to make people laugh or cry or learn, or at least be entertained. So many films now seem to just want to make the audience uncomfortable. If everyone is uncomfortable and confused it must be really deep. Well I don't buy it.Yes, everyone's family has their quirks, but that in and of itself doesn't make for a good movie. Messed up family stuff has been done and done and done again. I watched Welcome to the Dollhouse in my teens and really loved the movie (which is why I decided to watch this). It had some screwy uncomfortable things but the movie was entertaining and had heart. Also, I knew what was going on. It wasn't so... pretentious. It didn't try so hard to be art. It was just a really good movie.The reason this gets even 3 out of 10 is the red headed kid is one likable eloquent child actor.