GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

July 29, 2005

even

Twisted fun A convoluted plot actually makes 'Happy Endings' a marvelous film

by Anthony Glassman

Ah, Don Roos.

Roos is a screenwriter who parlayed his scripts for films like the American remake of Diabolique and Boys on the Side into an opportunity to direct his first film, The Opposite of Sex.

After following it up with the Ben Affleck/ Gwyneth Paltrow romantic comedy Bounce, Roos is back with Happy Endings, one of a small number of movies whose titles refer to masturbation, and probably the best of the bunch.

Buckle up, because the plot is pretty convoluted.

Charley (Steve Coogan) and Mamie (Lisa Kudrow) are step-siblings who had sex when their parents first married twenty years ago. Mamie got pregnant and was sent off to have an abortion.

Twenty years later, Mamie is dating Javier

Curbside

Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal, left) is sleeping with both Otis (Jason Ritter) and his father Frank (Tom Arnold), above.

(Bobby Cannavale), a masseur, when she is contacted by Nicky (Jesse Bradford), an aspiring filmmaker. Nicky has apparently discovered that Mamie didn't have an abortion, she gave her kid up for adoption, and he wants to make a documentary about her reunion with the young man.

Mamie doesn't want her most intimate secrets dredged up just so Nicky can get a scholarship to film school, so she baits him with another story, claiming that Javier is more than just a legitimate masseur, he is a gigolo who gives his female massage clients "happy endings."

Meanwhile, stepbrother Charley is living with his partner Gil (David Sutcliffe). Charley inherited his father's chain of restaurants and now runs the sole remaining eatery, while Gil is a successful architect.

Years before, Gil had donated sperm to lesbian couple Pam (Laura Dern) and and Diane (Sarah Clarke), but the donation didn't take at least, that's what Pam and Diane claim.

Charley is convinced that the women's toddler is Gil's, even comparing pictures of an infant Gil to pictures of the child.

Otis (Jason Ritter), meanwhile, works as a DJ at Charley's restaurant and is madly in love with him, even though he can't get up the nerve to tell him. However, when he asks Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to be the new lead singer for his band, she has sex with him to convince his father Frank (Tom Arnold) that Otis isn't gay. Which he is.

Jude then orchestrates a break-up with Otis to free herself to date Frank. She discovers a few short weeks later that she is pregnant, and doesn't know which of the two men is the father.

TAKE CHARGE OROBERT KIRBY I CAME TO REALLY FAST. I

WHEN I OPENED MY EYES,

THERE WAS ATOM, LYING ON THE FLOOR. AND ALL THE BLOOD, OF COURSE. AND CAL, SMOKING GUN IN HAND, STARING DOWN AT WHAT HE'D DONE.

WAS SUDDENLY VERY EFFICIENT.

Well, as Rod Roddy used to say at the beginning of one of the funniest sitcoms in history, "Confused? You won't be after this episode of Soap."

Interestingly enough, Roos has again proved himself a deft enough writer and director to create a completely coherent and interesting film out of three disparate storylines that could have given audiences cerebral hemorrhages.

A nice touch Roos uses to keep the storyline untangled is narrative captioning on half of the screen, white letters against a black background. This enables the actors to go about their business without engaging in endless exposition. It's fast, it's easy, and it tidies up what could have otherwise been a muddled mess.

Not only is Happy Endings as funny as The Opposite of Sex, but it continues establishing that Lisa Kudrow is more than just a "Friend," she is an actress with an impressive depth of emotion.

Of course, the most shocking part of the film is Roos' ability to somehow drag a decent performance out of Tom Arnold, who can be delicately described as 250 pounds of pure ham.

One can almost picture Don Roos on the set of Happy Endings, holding a very large gun to Tom Arnold's head and hissing, "If you overact, I'm splattering your brains all over the set."

Regardless, Arnold actually also displays a depth of emotion, a vulnerability that was legitimately touching.

Obviously, with as large an ensemble cast as this film boasts, each actor could have his or her strengths and weaknesses described at length: Coogan's manic energy, Bradford's richly deserved independent film "It Boy" status, Gyllenhaal's penchant for odd roles.

However, putting that fine a point on it would be ultimately useless, and would do a disservice to a film that could best be summed up in four words: Great cast, marvelous film.

by Robert Kirby

I'D SEEN A LOT OF MOVIES, SO I MADE SURE TO CHECK AND SEE IF ATOM WAS REALLY DEAD.

NO PULSE. LOOKING GOOD.

COUGH COUGH

GIMME THE GUN, CAL

CAL SEEMED TO BE IN SHOCK, I FIGURED HE'D NEVER YOU KNOW, OFFED ANYONE BEFORE, SO I DIDN'T REALLY BLAME HIM.

CAL? CAL.

BUT I WAS COOL AS A CUCUMBER... C'MON BABE, WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE. DON'T WORRY, I'M HERE -I'LL PROTECTCHA.

YESIREE, COOL AND CALM. UNTILTEN MINUTES LATER, WHEN WE GOT OUT ON THE STREET.....

OK, SO NOW WHAT?

CAL?

GET AWAY, FAR AWAY, THAT'S WHAT..

WE NEED SOME

You ok?

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