Review of Happiness Runs

I found this movie interesting. It was probably healing for the man whose experiences it was based on. I read several negative reviews when I took a break in the middle of the movie. Apart from the burn scene, I liked it (I saw a spoiler and skipped that scene). I felt the main character, Victor, was likable and expressed well by the actor. All of the young actors did a great job in my opinion. I felt the same about Andie McDowell as I always have, she comes off like she is reading her lines. I was just wondering where Rutger Hauer was the other day and this movie popped up in my suggestions box. I feel he portrayed Insley as well as could be expected with the limited amount of screen time. Others have said this movie could be so much more- it was from the youth perspective. We could have seen Insley and the other adults more if it were about them, but it wasn't. It was about the pain the creator felt growing up in a half utopia. The commune creators got parts of it right (lots of cannabis and open sex and nudity, sharing everything), but missed other important facets to utopian life like equality, avoiding chemicals, open dialogue that involved all members of the society including children, and likely natural parenting with attachment parenting (oh and not brainwashing through hypnosis is a biggie). The kids seemed messed up like the kids I grew up with, not what I would expect from a supposed utopian society. I would recommend it as interesting.