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Happy Endings (2005)
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Reviews Counted:101
Fresh:57
Rotten:44
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: Despite strong individual performances, the overlong, disjointed plot of Happy Endings self-indulgently rambles.
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Mamie is being blackmailed. This filmmaker named Nick claims to know Mamie’s son – the one she gave up for adoption – but Nick won’t introduce her to him unless he can film the reunion. Enter... Mamie is being blackmailed. This filmmaker named Nick claims to know Mamie’s son – the one she gave up for adoption – but Nick won’t introduce her to him unless he can film the reunion. Enter Javier, Mamie’s massage therapist boyfriend, who convinces Nick to film him instead. Now they’re all making a movie about massage. And ‘happy endings’… Charley has a longtime boyfriend named Gil. Their best friends, Pam and Diane, once tried using Gil as a sperm donor. They said his sperm didn’t take, but Charley thinks those selfish, control-freak lesbians are lying. Pam and Diane’s two-year-old son looks exactly like Gil. And it’s time to set the record straight… Jude is pissed. Not at anyone in particular. Just in general. When her cousin kicks her out of the house, Jude shacks up with Otis, who’s still trying to convince his father, Frank, that he’s straight. Frank’s a widower. And he’s rich. So Jude decides to sleep with him, too. Really. The last thing she expected was to fall in love… Just when you thought you knew everything about love and dysfunction, along comes HAPPY ENDINGS, Lions Gate Films’ hilarious and heartfelt new comedy by writer/director Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex, Bounce). Featuring a talented ensemble cast that includes Tom Arnold, Jesse Bradford, Bobby Cannavale, Sarah Clarke, Steve Coogan, Laura Dern, Lisa Kudrow, Jason Ritter, David Sutcliffe and Maggie Gyllenhaal,, HAPPY ENDINGS deftly weaves together multiple stories to create a sharp, witty look at love, family and the sheer unpredictability of life itself. A feast of buried secrets, missed opportunities and welcome second chances, this wildly original comedy proves that the happiest ending of all is the one you least expect. [More]
Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tom Arnold, Jason Ritter, Laura Dern
Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tom Arnold, Jason Ritter, Laura Dern, Lisa Kudrow, David Sutcliffe, Steve Coogan, Bobby Cannavale, Jesse Bradford
Director: Don Roos
Director: Don Roos
Screenwriter: Don Roos
Producer: Holly Wiersma, Michael Paseornek
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Happy Endings
Potent social satire mixes with multiple characters incapable of telling the truth, especially to themselves, in writer/director Don Roos' enjoyable comedy of deception and dysfunction.
There's a little fanciful magic to spread over this flighty romance on the run, or at least enough to take that hackneyed notion of the happy ending, and fashion something fresh and new.
Rarely has a film started so brilliantly and then so willfully shot itself directly in the foot.
A quirky and often enjoyable film about dysfunctional relationships, Happy Endings brings together separate stories about complicated characters who are all trying to deal with the truth.
The cast is a who's who, a who's not, and a who might one day be; they're the best part of a picture that is unnecessarily complex.
An unsuccessful attempt is made to tie all these loose threads together into one coherent story.
...an uneven, sometimes rambling journey that elicits mostly false emotion with regard to the payoff suggested by its title.
Latest News for Happy Endings
November 17, 2005:
Oh It's Already Been Broughten (Part 3)
A fresh press release from Universal informs us that there will soon be a "Bring It On 3" to enjoy, but also reminds us that, hey yeah, there WAS a direct-to-video... More...
March 09, 2005:
The director arranged to have a physical obstacle—a countertop, a couch—between Tom Arnold and his gay son in every scene until they reconcile. ![]()
More...
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