Happy Tears
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: February 19, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
6
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Lichtenstein dutifully unpacks the family's unhappy past, but he's so easily distracted by surreal dream sequences and colorful supporting characters that his main story gradually dries up into a sitcom. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Joe presents not so much a problem for Jayne and Laura as an opportunity. It's time to finally grow up and be true daughters and sisters. They've waited long enough. All of this, I must add, is done with a nicely screwy, sometimes stoned humor. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The acting's not the problem, and it's a nice thing to find Moore playing a human-scaled human being, with a recognizable human touch. The material has a hint of it too. But only a hint. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
This is the kind of movie where life lessons are posted every quarter-hour. (I timed it.) Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Posey and Moore's portrayals are among their career bests, and Torn is at once comical and poignant while Ellen Barkin, as his woozy, drugged-out girlfriend embraces deglamorization with a vengeance. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
In Happy Tears, Posey lands a juicy starring role designed to showcase her eccentric energy, and she's so delighted by the opportunity that her happiness infuses the movie: She keeps the first half of Happy Tears aloft on a cloud of endearing tics and mannerisms. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
A cringe-inducing, self-consciously kooky indie comedy that's best enjoyed for its taste of Rip Torn. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Rip Torn's recent real-life misadven tures are slightly echoed in Happy Tears, a moderately diverting black comedy in which he plays (what else?) a crazy old coot, to perfection. Read full review
25
ObserverRex Reed
A vulgar, happy-as-cancer aberration that takes the dysfunctional family idea to a new low. Whimsical, yes. Happy, never. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
If the plot unfolded in a less formulaic way, this could have been an impressive dark-tinged comedy. But in the end, it's more a case of talented actors trying to find something fresh in a fairly stale tale. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Take the worst things about independent movies - the wallowing in an unpleasantness, the narrative unsteadiness, the next-to-no story. Then combine those with a hefty dose of light comedy. The result: the big, fat tonal mess that is Happy Tears, a charmless film about two sisters who come together to care for their demented father. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Happy Tears is a complete mess of a movie, but Lichtenstein conjures some sweet moments and striking metaphors. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Simply weird. The funny has gone missing. Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Mr. Lichtenstein seems to want your tears. Nothing wrong there. The problem is that, because he never settles persuasively into one groove -- you don’t believe the tears or the smiles or anything in between -- he can’t begin to approach the complex contradictions suggested by his movie’s title. Read full review
20
Time OutDavid Fear
This film will make you cry tears. They won’t be happy ones. Read full review
30
VarietyLeslie Felperin
A contradictory creature, both insightful and dumb, sometimes innovative and sometimes just plain inept. Dreamy, funny but also weirdly disjointed, it’s as if the very film itself were stoned, just like its two pot-smoking sister protags. Read full review
0
Village VoiceMelissa Anderson
Continuing both his bad filmmaking and obsession with lethal orifices, Mitchell Lichtenstein follows up "Teeth," his clumsy debut about a dismembering vagina, with a voluminous explosion of poop. Read full review
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