Happily

Happily is a bit confusing. The script needs some help, that's for sure, as in the end there are some questions unanswered, some vital ones in my opinion. Now the story feels unfinished, and leaves the audience wondering what the point was of this movie. It could also have been funnier. I like dark comedies but here it's just not good enough. Al Madrigal for example is much funnier as a stand-up comedian. His show Shrimpin' Ain't Easy is really worth a watch if you want to have some good chuckles. The acting wasn't bad in Happily, but the story is just not helping them. I wouldn't waste my time with this one, there are much better dark comedies than Happily.

The cast was good but it took far too long for the movie to start to get interesting. The best part of the movie was right at the end when the so called friends spilled their guts and things got real. Point of the story, keep away from negative and narcissistic people, and protect your relationships from destructive influences.

We all have our skeletons some are in the closet and some we carry around with us and in today's times and so is life. My only real take away from the story is that we all know that there is no such thing as a perfect couple. What I didn't get was the guy in the black suit. The film never reveals that....senseless. I mean yeah, I get it the point but I really didn't need to.

The film begins with an interesting concept that totally held me for about the first hour, then it got a little weird and veered violently into a totally different direction which left me more than a little surprised.

Unfortunately the new course was one I neither understood nor did it relate particularly well to what came prior, so it threw me into left field with a unsatisfied and confused aftertaste.

For once, I can say with all sincerity it was a movie i just didn't get. Even though it was well acted directed, and (for the most part) produced, I think the incongruity of the plot will be problematic for most viewers.

It didn't help that in order for the story to assume the new course of direction, several rather ridiculous plot developments had to take place which again, were not in keeping with the stage previously set or the character frameworks as previously defined. Even with the oddities of the plot aside, this was enough to jar me from the experience that until that point, I was quite immersed in.

Anyway, I don't want to rag on this film too much as i don't think it's necessarily a bad movie per se, just that the creative license employed here may have had a few too many sherbets and not been in the right frame of mind for making the best decisions for the movie progression.

I can't recommend this one as it is ultimately disappointing, but for budding film makers it is a good lesson in not what to do with a pretty solid plot, or possibly how to wrest success from a movie, with questionable choices in screenplay.

The whole movie is based on an intruiging premise, enriched with some decent laughs (if you can find humor in cynicism) and an good ensemble of actors. What keeps the movie from getting boring is the not-quite-right setting/world that serves as a thematic thread.

There are for sure some questionable directional choices and the script could have used a bit more polish, but the movie keeps you intruiged and it doesn't overstay its welcome. So I was entertained throughout the whole thing.