Happy Endings
Happy Endings – 4 out of 5 stars
This is definitely a movie I recommend seeing. Lisa and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's one of those movies that starts telling the stories of multiple people simultaneously and manages to bring it all together at the end. It reminds me quite a lot of the good parts of Magnolia or Crash, just with a less impressive (though still recognizable) cast. In my opinion Happy Endings does a much better job of tying the stories together and of making you care about the characters.
Tom Arnold does an impressive acting job showing great vulnerability and compassion. After watching him in this movie, I really believe he could be a good actor with better role selection / direction. For me though, the real star of the movie is Maggie Gyllenhaal. She plays a fantastic, shallow character with a subtle depth about her. In addition, she sings her own vocals in the movie, and I am genuinely impressed. After the movie, I found myself rewatching all of her singing scenes just to hear the songs again.
In general, the whole cast does a great job. I'm afraid I'm overselling the movie and it'll only lead to disappointment for fellow renters, so I'll stop there. Suffice it to say, when you can't find any new blockbusters at the video store, see if they've got a copy in stock–I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's a sleeper hit.
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