The Atrocity Exhibition
Notes on Happiness and Hollywood
We've seen this sort of murder before, from great, mediocre and terrible American directors. It's something our filmmakers seem to excel at creating; certainly, it's something we excel at consuming. How reassuring, then, to know that it's not just corporate America that is funding the killing anymore. Happiness may be admirably crafted, filled with brave, powerful performances and produced by any number of independent-minded movie people, but it's as dead inside as Armageddon, and not nearly as fun. Instead of bludgeoning us with the newest in technological extremity, Solondz bludgeons us with a numbing progression of human frailties and human cruelties - the latter of his own careful making. At least Jerry Bruckheimer doesn't hate his characters, or his audience; or at least he has the good manners to pretend otherwise. There's nothing new about this sado-cinema - A Clockwork Orange, anyone? - but its seemingly endless escalation in the ranks of America's so-called independents is starting to get me down.
Last year it was Gummo, this year Happiness, with innumerable, senselessly brutal stories in between and doubtless more still to come. Epater les bourgeoisie has become a tic, a badge of honor, a marketing hook. In films from Deconstructing Harry to Nightwatch, outrageousness for the sake of outrageousness replaces any sort of authentic creative growth, daring or ambition. Even a smart, admittedly mean piece of work such as Neil LaBute's Your Friends & Neighbors nearly blows it by jewel-casing an unrepentantly, unnecessarily cruel anecdote. Oooh - male rape! Sure, it's rhetorical, but rhetoric seems entirely beside the point when the shock wave is so much louder than the rest of the movie. Worse yet, it's boring. I'm bored - by serial killers and their body counts, warped incest victims and their pain, angry cops and their prey, gangbangers and their hoods. I long for Quentin Tarantino to make a musical, without guns. For Martin Scorsese to abandon his goodfellas, for Ridley Scott to get back to the future, for Kathryn Bigelow to return to the present. I long for Todd Solondz to leave me alone.
Now Showing
Find capsule reviews, showtimes & tickets for all films in town.
Join My Voice Nation for free stuff, film info & more!
Now Trending
-
Voice Places
Find everything you're looking for in your city
-
Happy Hour App
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
-
Daily Deals
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
-
Best Of...
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
- Profile
- Newsletters
- Mobile
- Logout
