I give Todd Solondz an awful lot of credit for this movie. In it, he puts some incredibly powerful (and sensitive) issues at work, and he does so without ever giving in or copping out. And there is a lot of powerful stuff in this movie. For this, he gets a lot of credit. This is very much an ensemble piece, which weaves in and out of various different storylines, all of which do shed light into the personalities of the different characters. Each of the actors do a very good job with their roles, especially Dylan Baker (who played Bill Maplewood) In both of these manners, this is a remarkable movie.
Unfortunately, this is not a remarkable movie, for a few different reasons. It's not a great looking movie, but that's not a huge problem. Happiness just doesn't seem to come together... it just kind of sits there, unable to pull together all of its different threads into one remarkable whole. As such, Happiness misses the mark - and all thats left is a few remarkably powerful sequences (like when Bill talks to his son about the incidents) that dont really become anything truly great.
Unfortunately, this is not a remarkable movie, for a few different reasons. It's not a great looking movie, but that's not a huge problem. Happiness just doesn't seem to come together... it just kind of sits there, unable to pull together all of its different threads into one remarkable whole. As such, Happiness misses the mark - and all thats left is a few remarkably powerful sequences (like when Bill talks to his son about the incidents) that dont really become anything truly great.