Murky and humorless.
Comment
03/01/07
Happy Here and Now (2002)
45
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:9
Rotten:11
Average Rating:5.1/10
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Michael Almareda (NADJA) delivers another difficult and rewarding film that refuses to deliver on genre conventions. This time, a girl (Shalom Harlow) is missing, and her sister, Amelia (Liane... [More]
Starring: Karl Geary, Shalom Harlow, Ally Sheedy, Gloria Reuben
Director: Michael Almereyda
Reviews for Happy Here and Now
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Michael Almereyda's futuristic mystery isn't a complete misfire, but it does leave you with the same baffled blankness that suffuses his isolated, techno-dependent characters.
12/16/05
Mourning and gloom weigh upon most of the characters in Michael Almereyda's convoluted and numbingly pretentious Happy Here and Now
12/15/05
While technically brilliant and gorgeous to watch, Happy Here and Now feels as unfocused and uneven as it is ambitious and intellectually frustrating.
04/27/03
The dialogue is much like a bull session in a college dorm room, right before the munchies set in.
12/14/05
Set in New Orleans, this collection of loosely connected set pieces was written and directed by Michael Almereyda, who is perhaps best known for his 2000 iteration of Hamlet.
12/14/05
Top CriticClick to read the article
01/02/03
The film is resolutely committed to its affectations of deepness and meaningfulness, but all it imparts is a sense of tediousness.
02/08/06
A bit too mannered to engage.
12/15/05
Almereyda is tripped up by this grab at cosmic profundity, and lands in a sticky puddle of pretension.
12/06/05
Michael Almereyda's muddled Happy Here and Now should have stayed on the shelf -- where it's been gathering dust for several years.
12/16/05
Casts an undeniable and lingering spell for those who enjoy their cinema spiked with adventure and philosophy.
12/16/05
The future is quieter, emotionally subdued and grayly mysterious, at least in the small hop forward imagined by filmmaker Michael Almereyda.
12/16/05
Top CriticWhen Amelia takes the full multimedia plunge in the movie's final moments, Happy becomes something inexplicably (and metaphysically) beautiful.
12/13/05
A rich kaleidoscope of sights and sounds that sing out in their vitality.
12/11/05
To make an inexact analogy, 'Happy Here and Now' is to New Orleans as 'Mystery Train' was to Memphis...
10/27/03
The film transcends what occasionally seems to be oddness for its own sake.
02/16/03
Even if you're not quite down with Almereyda's digital-age existentialism, he has impeccable taste in music.
12/16/05
This is a droll, laid-back film noir steeped in Crescent City atmosphere and music that culminates in the colliding worlds of genuine and virtual reality.
12/16/05
Top CriticThis small masterpiece has been one of the best films around not to secure a proper theatrical release.
12/15/05
Top Critic1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds