'Happy' go yucky
Laura (Demi Moore), left, and Jayne (Parker Posey) try to cope.
(Roadside Attractions)
Happy Tears
Running time: 95 minutes
MPAA rating: R (profanity, adult situations, nudity, drugs)
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"What was that?" is a common phrase when filmmakers run wild with their imaginations in a showcase, festival environment.
Combine that feeling with the "Happy Tears" cast led by Parker Posey ("Broken English," "Fay Grim"), once known as the Queen of the Indies, and you'd think you'll be ready to gulp down a quick coffee and run back to the theater for more (a common film festival practice).
Just one problem, though. While "Happy Tears" is quirky enough to pose as film festival fodder, it falls short when it comes to offbeat entertainment. Posey, Demi Moore ("Mr. Brooks") and veteran actor Rip Torn share the screen in a barely functional tale of family dysfunction.
Torn ("Men in Black"), a good actor grabbing some not-so-good headlines recently for breaking into a bank with a loaded gun while intoxicated, drops his drawers on cue as Joe. He's a 70-something father losing his marbles and control of his bowels at the same time.
One daughter, Laura (Demi Moore), has already arrived in Pittsburgh to help. Jayne (Posey), perhaps unable to face a father who's lost his grasp on reality, delays her arrival by shopping for expensive boots in San Francisco before getting on a plane.
Once the prodigal daughter arrives, Laura, the practical, but financially struggling one, and Jayne, who married into money and weirdness, bond a little. They also try to figure out why dad is letting a floozy named Shelly (Ellen Barkin like you've never seen her) hang around.
Writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstein, who shocked more than a few film-goers with his horror-comedy "Teeth" in 2007, pulls back the creative reins a little here. Actually, I prefer the "What the ...?" reaction to a femme fatale with killer private parts in "Teeth" to what goes on in "Happy Tears."
Weirdness prevails with no consistent tone in this wacky family comic-drama. Moore pulls off the caretaker daughter who has only sort of outgrown her hippie past. Posey, however, comes off as a poser in this one. Neither fully committed nor oblivious to what's going on, Parker just doesn't bring her A-game.
Part of the problem has to do with the fact that Lichtenstein, an actor-turned-filmmaker, has trouble digging into the complex emotions of adult children dealing with a parent's unraveling mental state.
If the subject matter interests you, I highly recommend that you rent "The Savages" instead of investing in "Happy Tears." Laura Linney, who earned an Oscar nomination, and Philip Seymour Hoffman portrayed siblings caring for a mentally deteriorating dad much more effectively in that one.
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