My Happy Ending

The once famous actress Julia Roth checks into a UK hospital with stage 4 cancer, unable to get a private room, she encounters three women in a similar situation, very different people, united by cancer.

The lack of reviews and seriously low score don't make sense to me, it's a movie that may not be for everyone, but if you know what to expect, it's quite a powerful movie.

The highlight, the acting, there are genuinely some wonderful acting performances in this film, it works so well because of that, the star quality of Andie MacDowell in particular, she's wonderful, and as dazzling as ever.

I'd hoped for a few more laughs, there are a couple, but they're few and far between.

It's very moving, the kind of film that will make you tear up, essentially it shows how different people deal with cancer, clearly there's no right or wrong way.

Well acted, powerful, moving, it's a deep watch, arguably it could have been a little more amusing, but I enjoyed it.

7/10.

I appreciate the fact that they didn't convolute a serious subject matter like stage 4 cancer with unrealistic, fantastical wishful thinking & gave one of the most unfathomable & perhaps unpopular choices one can make for their own life a reality check rather than presenting a serious aspect like ("Life & Death) to be portrayed as it is with all its tragic and traumatic ramifications!

Not recommendable for those seeking a happy ending, though making a choice to end one's life while enjoying it to the fullest, even if that choice is in contrast with general societal norms, is a view point that should be appreciated for the truthfulness it entails !

Good writing, good acting and altogether a good sad movie about life!

The non term "comedy drama" strikes again. And since it's being used repeatedly, I'm forced to repeat my statement: "there's no such thing as comedy drama". The drama here, as in most cases when this term is used, is indeed present. But not every time humor is used the result is comedy. In this case humor is here simply to hold the drama in check and stop the entire thing from turning into a melodramatic mush. And it works, we do get a very understated and sometimes even restrained emotional reaction in a story that the normal Hollywood treatment would turn into an overwhelming sentimental tearjerker. The fact that we have no tearjerker here is in itself an achievement.

This achievement is reached with the help of the humor used here and with superb acting of all the leads. That is, in my humble opinion, what we got here is four leads and one major supporting role. Namely, Andie MacDowell, Miriam Margolyes, Sally Phillips and Rakhee Thakrar who all get their moments on screen, and Tamsin Greig, who supports this magnificent quartet. If we consider the subject matter - keeping the entire thing from going overboard is really something special that requires a lot of control and restraint from the cast. I remember seeing other movies on this topic that failed exactly in this point. The result was next to unwatchable.

One last point: one of the previous reviewers wrote the entire movie off as a collection of cliche. The story as is, without the humor and the restraint is exactly a collection of cliche. But when this collection of cliche is presented like that it becomes something completely different. For me, it became real, and touching because of this approach.

This is the story of a women who is diagnosed with a serious case of cancer, meets other sufferers, and finds that each of them confronts the disease in a different way, contributing (or maybe not) to the attitude that she herself adopts. It should work well, and maybe it does in the play that this movie was based on (I don't know the play), but here the elements don't connect up very gracefully. Part of the problem, I suspect, is that somebody decided to confine the entire plot to a single day. Maybe even to the hour and a half that the movie takes, although I'm not sure we're supposed to take it that literally. Anyway, the supporting characters don't get very well developed (some are virtually stereotypes), attitudes change too abruptly, and the ending is more like a "we've run out of time" ending than like a comprehensive development out of what's come before. That said, the movie deserves credit for portraying a not entirely sympathetic protagonist and Andie MacDowell deserves credit for putting her across. And Miriam Margolyes extracts the maximum from a part that consists largely of wisecracking and mugging.

My Happy Ending is a film that tries to be a heartwarming and humorous story about four women who bond over their cancer treatments in a hospital. Julia (Andie MacDowell) is a famous actress who is diagnosed with breast cancer and has to deal with her fading career and cheating husband. Judy (Miriam Margolyes) is an elderly Jewish woman who has terminal lung cancer and wants to make peace with her estranged son. Mikey (Sally Phillips) is a rebellious punk rocker who has ovarian cancer and refuses to give up her lifestyle. Imaan (Rakhee Thakrar) is a young Muslim woman who has leukemia and struggles with her conservative family.

The film, directed by Tal Granit and Sharon Maymon, based on a play by Anat Gov, fails to deliver on its premise. The film is full of stereotypes, contrivances, and melodrama, without any subtlety or nuance. The film also lacks any real humor or emotion, relying on cheap jokes and sentimental music. The film does not explore the complex issues of cancer, mortality, identity, or friendship in any meaningful way.

The film's only redeeming quality is the cast, who try their best to bring some life to their characters. MacDowell, Margolyes, Phillips, and Thakrar have some chemistry and charisma on screen, but they are wasted by the poor script and direction. The supporting actors are also underused or miscast.

My Happy Ending is a film that should have been better than it was. It is a film that squanders its potential and its talent.