Another Happy Day
Phase 4 Films | Release Date: November 18, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
8
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirNov 18, 2011
The younger Levinson has considerable storytelling talent, an admirable honesty and a streak of ruthlessness. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 8, 2011
As Barkin's nemesis, Moore is evil, and that's a good thing - she doesn't back off. Kate Bosworth plays Barkin's fragile daughter and is a pleasant surprise: Who knew she was an actress? Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedNov 16, 2011
I tend to forget how marvelous Ellen Barkin can be until she gets the rare chance to pull out all the stops in a movie like this. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn LevyJan 12, 2012
The actors make the trauma in Another Happy Day feel real. But it's too often undercut by directorial fussiness that feels more academic than personal. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsNov 16, 2011
Levinson stuffs the movie with so many emotional cross-currents and minor revelations that it's hard to keep them all straight, but the movie works the audience's nerves with enough determination to get under the skin and stay there, a sensation that comes awfully close to an earned emotional response. Read full review
65
MovielineAlison WillmoreNov 17, 2011
It's unpleasant, shrill and exhausting - everyone's so busy airing their own grievances no one has time to listen to anyone else's - but it's a genuine actors' film anchored by some good performances. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyNov 18, 2011
If this low-budget indie is any indication, the younger Levinson's creative sensibilities appear to be darker than his dad's, the voice clearly his own. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid FearNov 15, 2011
You could get whiplash watching this bipolar drama jerk between extremes: For every extraordinary scene - such as an authentically awkward exchange between Bosworth and estranged dad Thomas Haden Church - there's a sequence or three that might be extended collegiate acting exercises. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenNov 17, 2011
Like its recent forerunners, "Rachel Getting Married" and "Margot at the Wedding," Another Happy Day is both anguished and histrionic and in its strongest moments very, very good. But it is also overpopulated, strident and constitutionally unable to step back and scrutinize itself. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumNov 16, 2011
As the groom's brassy-babe stepmother, Demi Moore does her own share of scenery chewing, but at least she looks like she's having fun. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeNov 1, 2011
Though some of the movie's performances flirt with caricature (Siobhan Fallon's loud-mouthed aunt, Demi Moore as a brash and overtly sexual second wife), the movie has a center of gravity just strong enough to contain them. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNov 17, 2011
It's Barkin, though, who holds everything together, even as her character is falling apart. Whether or not she took this role as a favor - Levinson's father, Barry, directed her in "Diner" decades ago - ultimately seems irrelevant. This isn't an invitation you should feel obliged to accept. But if you decide to stop by, she'll be the reason you stay. Read full review
40
Boxoffice MagazineSteve RamosNov 1, 2011
Void of subtlety and the gritty realism that's trademark for many Sundance dramas, Another Happy Day, from Mandalay Vision, may fail to win over many critics due to its histrionic storytelling. Read full review
40
VarietyRob NelsonNov 1, 2011
Mistaking over-the-top dysfunctional family cruelty for comedy and drama, Another Happy Day tries and fails to channel "Rachel Getting Married" in its protracted tale of a wedding-party weekend that turns predictably from scabrous to redemptive. Read full review
33
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 18, 2011
Dislikable movie characters don't always result in dislikable movies but that's certainly the case with Sam Levinson's Another Happy Day, a dysfunctional family meltdown movie about an impending wedding that only grows more aggravating as it unwinds. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithNov 18, 2011
Even at a supposed celebration, the well-bred and well-off aren't really happy at all. So the title is ironic. Thanks for that profound insight. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineNick SchagerNov 13, 2011
Hell is family in Another Happy Day, a portrait of one clan's reunion for a wedding that overflows with characters even more repugnant than the irony of its groan-worthy title. Read full review
0
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonNov 15, 2011
Hoping to distract us from the zero ideas found in his film, Levinson demands that his cast act loudly and unbearably, a task for which Demi Moore, as the second wife of Ellen's first husband, is perfectly suited. Read full review
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