Another Happy Day

I went into the Savannah Film Festival screening of this film not really expecting much. Of all the movies I saw at the film festival, this one resonated with me the most, and came closest to my heart.

Sam Levinson has woven a dark dramedy of epic proportions as Lynn (Oscar-worthy performance by Ellen Barkin) drives her two sons to her mother's house for the eldest son's wedding. Through it all the audience witnesses the public and private meltdowns and sentimentality's of this flawed, and deeply human family.

From Lynn's confrontation of her divorcé husband (Thomas Haden Church), to her drug-addled, caustic-mouthed son Elliot's (genius performance from Ezra Miller) flirtation with grandpa's meds, to catty quips from Lynn's sisters, past trauma, guilt, and resentment flow onto the screen. What rises from this fertile emotional landscape are frightening moments, and hysterically funny scenes. For the audience it's an event, but Lynn and her boys it's just 'Another Happy Day.'

Humor is the pallet cleanser for this hearty cinematic meal. The viewer fears for Elliot's life after he nearly OD's on the bathroom floor; then breaks into hysterics as Elliot tries to hide his blue lips with mom's rouge, the following morning. It's all so funny, and so smart. You will be cry as much from laughing as you will from the sorrowful scenes.

Performances cut deep with their stark realism. From Ellen Barkin's Lynn, Ezra Miller's Elliot, Ellen Burstyn's Doris, down to 14 year old Daniel Yelsky's Ben - someone is going to get an Oscar nomination here. And if not, then the critics aren't ready for Levinson's dark blend of laughs and tears.

Highly recommended: 9 out of 10.

At the time of writing this review 308 users have given a weighted average vote of 4.9. Note that 92 voters gave a 10 and 39 voters gave a 1. That indicates Another Happy Day must be a controversial movie. Let me add that it is a controversial quality movie. You may or may not like the story, if you don't then view this movie as a demonstration of good acting. Ellen Barkin is superb. And then there is Ellen Burstyn, at first I did not recognize her ( excellent make-up job ) but Doris and Sarah Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream are both played by Ellen Burstyn. Demi Moore plays the part of a woman you should instantly hate and she does that very well. I simply forgot she was 'Demi Moore'. - I don't want to say much about the movie except this line, as I remember it. "I got upset because they called me autistic while I am only diagnosed as bipolar." - "Did they say that while you were there?" - "No, but I have exceptionally well hearing, I can hear frequencies as low as 20 Hertz."

I confess to having seen this film twice, the second time just to see if knowing the ending made any difference to the way the script plays out. It didn't. I was just as embroiled in the detail of a family showing their affection for each other in so many different ways but none of them pleasant. And yet the love was and is there for the whole of the family, it just isn't the kind of fluff or gush that Hollywood is famed for heaping upon its audiences. This is tough love for tough lives, not in the physical sense but in the mental veneers families sometimes play with.

If this were a book you would probably put it down and find a lighter read but as a film it provokes you to look away in the full knowledge you won't because you are already gripped. You just want to know how long it will take before the sparring turns into real bare knuckle fights. The cast perform their tasks wonderfully well, so well that they seem real and that is another reason you cannot turn your head. It is not a film for those who love action or movement in a film because this dwells and draws maximum coverage from each scene. And yet it isn't slow. It is deeply layered and textured with such a diverse range of characters each vying for your affection. And you will love them all for their many faults but mostly for their ability to survive.

If you are not into intelligent drama then you'd best give this a mess, but if you like a really good tour around human beings attempting to live together if only for a day or so, then try it. You may enjoy it as much as I did.

Lynn (Ellen Barkin) is coming back to the family home with his sons Elliot (Ezra Miller) and Ben (Daniel Yelsky) Her eldest son Dylan (Michael Nardelli) is getting married. Her daughter Alice (Kate Bosworth) is also coming. She's a fragile mess. Elliot is a cynical trouble maker who causes havoc. Lynn struggles with her parents (Ellen Burstyn, George Kennedy), her sisters (Siobhan Fallon, Diana Scarwid), her ex-husband (Thomas Haden Church) and his second wife Patty (Demi Moore).

This is Sam Levinson's directorial debut and a writer as well. The cast list is very impressive. That may have something to do with the fact that Sam is the son of Barry Levinson. The great actors do some big performances here. Besides the big names, Ezra Miller also gives a good performance. However the whole movie is a chaotic mess of excessive drama with too many characters. More is not always better. The amateur directions never really allow the film to settle down and find a member of this family that we can root for.

This is a wonderfully powerful film that manages to seriously portray family drama in a believable way - so much so that I could match situations in the film to similar situations that have happened at my own family gatherings. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, hence the lower rating, but for me it was a great snapshot into a family's life and all the issues that get dragged up when so many people come together with a lot of emotional baggage.

Others have mentioned the amazing acting performances and they really do bring the characters and thus the story to life. You can't help but feel for Ellen Barkin's Lynn as she's getting picked at from all sides, both from judgement and disdain from outside her immediate family and from within with Ezra Miller's Elliot acting up the entire time.

However, this film tends highly towards the drama end of comedy-drama, so much so that it contains very little comedy at all in my opinion so I feel the genre categorising is a little disingenuous.