Happy Endings: Movie & DVD Review (2005)

(Originally published 2005)

From Don Roos, whose "The Opposite of Sex" was one of the freshest, funniest comedies of 1998, comes "Happy Endings," a busy little drama with comedic undertones.

The cast is a who's who, a who's not, and a who might one day be; they’re the best part of the picture, particularly Tom Arnold, if you can swallow that, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Jude, a girl interrupted by a whole host of circumstances. Laura Dern and Lisa Kudrow also star.

On the downside, the movie is unnecessarily complex, filled with characters who never are what they appear. Roos tries hard to keep us on our toes--and on some levels he succeeds--but with each revelation in the crisscrossing hive of contrivances the movie courts, comes an extended series of mild disappointments.

Grade: C+


DVD Features

• Available Audio Tracks: (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Commentary by: Director Don Roos, director of photography Clark Mathis, and actress Lisa Kudrow (Unknown Format)
• A making-of featurette
• Deleted scenes and outtakes (with optional commentary)
• A montage
• Trailers