“A ‘Happy Ending’ For
Audiences”
It seems absurd to compare the writer of “Boys On
The Side” and “Single White Female” to
the creator of “M*A*S*H” and “The Player,” yet
writer/director Don Roos has constructed a multi-story
masterpiece on the level of Robert Altman with “Happy
Endings,” a comedy rich in complex character and
plot developments.
Adolescent Mamie sleeps with her new stepbrother Charlie
and has an abortion when things go awry. Years later, Mamie
(now played by Lisa Kudrow), assuages her guilt by counseling
at an abortion clinic. Her life turns upside-down when
a nefarious filmmaker (Jesse Bradford, “Heights”)
blackmails her into producing an audition video for an
American Film Institute scholarship (It’s meant to
be as absurd as it sounds). Her masseur boyfriend (Bobby
Cannavale, “The Station Agent”) becomes entangled
in the scheme.
Mamie’s grown-up stepbrother Charlie (Steve Coogan, “Around
the World in 80 Days”) runs the family restaurant
and lives with his boyfriend (David Sutcliffe, TV’s “I’m
With Her”). Also feeling the affects of losing his
first child, Charlie becomes paranoid about the child of
their lesbian friends (Laura Dern, “Rambling Rose,” and
Sarah Clarke, TV’s “24”).
At Charlie’s restaurant, DJ Otis (Jason Ritter, “Joan
Of Arcadia”) falls for a new singer, Jude (Maggie
Gyllenhaal, “Secretary”) and brings him home
where she bewitches his wealthy father (Tom Arnold, TV’s “Roseanne”).
The players of this farce attempt to discover their own
boundaries, crossing lines of decency in hilarious and
heart wrenching ways.
Roos orchestrates the symphony of human insanity with witty
dialogue that revels in its outrageousness. Subtitles act
like an omniscient God wryly commenting on the characters’ motives
and revealing their futures. Not since the Altman classic “Nashville” have
so many stories been told so vividly and with no stories
led astray (try saying that about Altman’s “Short
Cuts”). Roos’ directorial debut “The
Opposite of Sex” revealed the mainstream writer had
a devilishly independent edge, but even that satirical
comedy didn’t suggest Roos had the genius to pull
off so many twisted stories in one evening.
The cast mixes the ridiculous (who would cast Tom Arnold
as a sympathetic romantic?) to the sublime (Gyllenhaal’s
turn as a gold-digger growing a heart of gold harks back
to Jean Harlow’s best work). Yet every actor gives
the best performance of their career (yes, even Arnold).
Bradford, an accomplished actor since the age of fourteen
(if you haven’t seen Steven Soderberg’s “King
Of The Hill” you’re missing out on Bradford’s
star turn), plays an endearing sociopath with surprising
integrity. As bad seed Nicky, you want to hate him for
blackmailing poor Mamie or carrying around a loaded gun
like a western bandit, but Bradford’s aw-shucks grin
and baby face won’t allow you to take him very seriously.
Though a strong ensemble piece, it is the riveting Kudrow
who will delight and haunt you long after the credits role.
Damaged by her past, her Mamie bases all her choices on
getting back on the correct path. Kudrow has demonstrated,
particularly with her multi-layered, almost schizophrenic
portrayal of Phoebe Buffay on ten seasons of “Friends” that
she never shies away from illustrating the ugliness and
pain in even her cheeriest characters. Hopefully the Academy
will not automatically discount a comedy, awarding Kudrow
a richly deserved Best Actress Oscar.
It’s too early in the year to declare the best picture
of 2005. “Crash,” months before, demonstrated
spellbinding acting and thought-provoking dialogue on the
human condition. But while “Crash”’s
preachy undertones turned moving characters into case studies, “Happy
Endings” flows like a year in the life of inmates
in the asylum called America. It may not be 2005’s
biggest masterpiece, but it is its first. Grade: A+
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