Life During Wartime (STRONG LANGUAGE - ADULT CONTENT)

TheCentralScrutinizer · 17 Sep 09 :: 19:25

From Cartuna at AICN...

LIFE DURING WARTIME
directed by - Todd Solondz
The short version: Fantastic. A great and worthy sequel to Happiness.
The long version:
A convict child rapist is released from prison, just as his ex-wife has found a new love. As she embarks on this new relationship, her young son, who had always been told that his father was dead, learns the truth and struggles to understand what it means. Meanwhile, her sister is hounded by a ghost from her past, just as she separates from her own husband. Everyone is searching for a kind of happiness, but no one seems to find anything but misery.
Wow. I had no idea that this was actually a direct sequel to Happiness. From what I had heard beforehand, I was under the impression that it was a spiritual sequel which covered similar ground and had a few characters with the same names. But, no, unless I'm very much mistaken (which is entirely possible) this is an actual sequel picking up on many of the stories from the original film, with one strange distinction: it has been entirely recast!
I'm not sure what the thinking was behind this - whether it was purposeful from the start or a smart adaptation when some of the original cast was unavailable or not interested in returning, but it's a smart choice, and allows this film to really stand on its own as a companion piece to Happiness, rather than just an extension.
And it really does stand on its own. It could easily be seen and enjoyed without any knowledge of the earlier film. The original was pretty much complete and self-contained, and as much as I liked it, I'd be surprised to hear that there were many people clamoring for a sequel. But, unlike most cash-grab second chapters, this one really does have something to say beyond the first. It builds on and elaborates as we catch up with some of the same folks ten years down the road.
It doesn't have quite the same power as its predecessor, but that's because the previous felt like a film of events, while this is more a film of repercussions.
It's filled with all of the awkward and painful characters and situations that we've come to look forward to from Solondz, and above all, his honesty and humor. He's a very specific type of filmmaker with a particular voice, and I think people can gauge from their reaction to any single example of his work how they will respond to all of it. If you don't tend to dig his films, this one won't change your mind. If you're already a fan, then you're in for a treat.

Source: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/42392

justme · 17 Sep 09 :: 19:44

I like that line about the new film being about repercussions, rather than events. I think that was part of "Happiness"es trouble. It lacked consequences. And I'm glad it stands on its own. When the sequel is so many years after the original, it really needs to.

I just realized that Jane Adams was in both "Happiness" and "Beautiful Children". She needs to be in a few more "Father of the Bride 2"s to balance out her resume a little.:lol:

TheCentralScrutinizer · 17 Sep 09 :: 20:15

Well, now she's in Hung, selling Thomas Jane's big wanker to lonely housewives. I think she's probably feeling OK these days.

justme · 17 Sep 09 :: 20:18

Someone wrote a letter to TVGuide complaining that the show is called "Hung" and she never gets to see what the title refers to. :rofl: She said (correctly) that if the show were called "Rack", we'd see it constantly!

justme · 17 Sep 09 :: 20:19

Again because it isn't dangling off of Harvey Keitel.

Editsound · 17 Sep 09 :: 20:21

Thomas Jane probably can't measure up to that kind of examination, where as if they made "Rack", that would be the main factor in casting the part.

justme · 17 Sep 09 :: 20:23

He could get himself one of those Markie Mark prosthetics.

EDIT: And I'M not complaining that we don't see "it". I was just amused that this woman was so peeved by it that she fired off a letter to TVGuide.

Last edited by justme (17 Sep 09 :: 20:28)

TheCentralScrutinizer · 17 Sep 09 :: 23:07

Well, as a fan of the show, I can't say that it bothers me that we don't see it. They may pull a big reveal at the very end of the series though, like with Marky Mark. If you'd seen his "Thor" before the end of Boogie Nights, you might not've stuck around for the whole movie...

justme · 18 Sep 09 :: 00:38

I think Jane Adams is great. I'm glad she's in something new that's not as, shall we say, challenging as "Beautiful Children" and "Happiness". I'm sorry I got us off topic today, too. I'd rather speculate about Thomas Jane's fictional crotch all day than think about raped children.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 Sep 09 :: 01:11

I'd rather speculate on Thomas Jane's willy too. Jane Adams really does seem to be having a blast on this show. Everyone does. And for once, I don't hate Anne Heche in something, so that's nice.

justme · 18 Sep 09 :: 01:27

Whoa! If it'd stop me from hating Anne Heche, that'd be some show. It's just that (clears throat, rubs nose) her voice drives me crazy!

Last edited by justme (18 Sep 09 :: 01:28)

TheCentralScrutinizer · 18 Sep 09 :: 01:31

LOL!!! Yeah, I know. In the first few eps, I still hated her. But she becomes more sympathetic as the season goes along. In the last ep, I was almost rooting for her.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 21 Sep 09 :: 18:53

Another review...

by Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly

One of my fondest memories of Toronto is back in 1998, when I first saw Todd Solondz's Happiness. It was one of the most exhilaratingly unnerving movies I'd ever watched — a scandalous comedy of desperation that seemed to draw back a curtain on the sexual and romantic lives of its characters, revealing the secret things they did, some of them kinky, a few of them criminal, a lot of them just…private. The movie forced you to confront the continuity between the lust and despair it showed you and what was going on off-screen, maybe even in your own life. Happiness was Solondz's last zeitgeist moment as a filmmaker. He has made at least one movie since then that I thought was powerful, the 2005 Palindromes, but it never connected with an audience (postmodern abortion comedies in which a bunch of different actresses play the same depressive teenager have a way of not doing that), and for years I've been waiting for him to seize the moment again.
He's obviously trying to in Life During Wartime, because the movie is a sequel to Happiness. It features half a dozen of the same characters, all played by new actors (the effect is sort of Palindromes lite). Only Happiness, dark as it was, had the feeling of a voyeuristic adventure: We couldn't wait to see what Solondz's ordinary misfits would do next, even if, in the case of the suburban pedophile Bill Maplewood, the film put you in the disquieting position of sympathizing with someone it presented, in no uncertain terms, as a sexually compulsive monster. Life During Wartime almost completely lacks that What's going to happen next? erotic-moral-pathological suspense, because no one in the movie really does anything. Instead, they all sit around and talk about the past: about situations from years ago, and about what Solondz presents as the cosmic conundrum of guilt and forgiveness. Namely, how do you forgive the unforgivable?
Bill Maplewood, now played by the brilliant and dourly fish-faced Ciarán Hinds, has just gotten out of prison, and he wants to make amends, but his crimes still echo through the lives of his wife (now played by Allison Janney), and his son Billy (Chris Marquette), who's now in college, and his young son Timmy (Dylan Riley Snyder), who has learned from the Internet what his father was. Meanwhile, Joy, the pale anhedonic vegetarian wallflower (now played by Shirley Henderson), has gone and married a violent drug abuser, but she keeps hallucinating conversations with her former boyfriend — played, in the film's one truly startling and heartfelt performance, by Paul Reubens, who catches the tragedy of neurotics who hold on to their misery until it's too late.
The disappointment of Life During Wartime is that Solondz, instead of taking his characters into new realms of amorous exploration, mostly just lets them rattle on about their wasted lives. He treats the original film as if it were a sacred text that now had to be footnoted. At times, the movie is like Ingmar Bergman with whiny Florida Jews instead of depressive Swedes, but Solondz's dialogue here doesn't hypnotize, it diagrams, bleakly. You no longer quite believe what you're watching. Life During Wartime once again presents people trapped in their fears and desires, only now, after 10 years, it's the filmmaker who's trapping them. Solondz has taken the dark side of love and, unlike before, committed a truly unpardonable sin — he's made it drab.

Warbee · 22 Sep 09 :: 01:36

It seems like people are quite divided and against this movie I will still likely get around to watching it. But its kinda disappointing to hear it not doing so well.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 22 Sep 09 :: 01:51

It's actually getting more positive than negative reaction, on the whole. But Solondz is never going to appeal to everyone. Personally, I can't wait to see it.

Warbee · 22 Sep 09 :: 01:56

Think I might just have to watch it myself to decide. I have never seen any of Todd Solondz before so not sure how I will take him. Its good to hear that its more positive than I first thought though YAY

TheCentralScrutinizer · 22 Sep 09 :: 02:06

People will be fighting over this movie for years to come. Typical of all his films.

Editsound · 23 Sep 09 :: 20:47

I bit the bullet and moved Happiness to the top of my netflix, and it is on the way, figured I should see it before I saw Life during Wartime. I'll let you know...

justme · 23 Sep 09 :: 21:01

I can't wait to hear what you thought. I wonder sometimes if I'd have liked it better if I'd known what it was about.

Editsound · 27 Sep 09 :: 18:38

I hope that Life During Wartime is MUCH better than Happiness. I really like Welcome to the Dollhouse, it was at times extreme but everything came from the characters. Happiness was just desperately trying to be shocking. With no real characters, no real story. It was just a series of archetypes, which he then showed doing some sort of perverse behavior. I'm sure it was shocking for some people, but I wasn't shocked. There can't be any real impact, in something which is so obvious. Develope a story with real characters, then have them do something perverse, that is how you shock. I think he was also trying to be satirical, but again it was so obvious that it lost any incite. It felt like an "artist" who wanted to make an "important" film. But he doesn't have the depth to make such a film.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 16 Oct 09 :: 19:51

Just learned from someone who saw the movie at the London Film Fest that Billy doesn't show up until the last 30 minutes of the film. That's good to know so we won't be on pins & needles the whole time waiting for him.

TeeJay · 17 Oct 09 :: 00:12

Somehow I have a feeling I'm not gonna be very fond of this movie. I have Happiness lying on my couch table, waiting to be watched, but it just doesn't feel like the movie you just wanna pop into the DVD player to sit back and relax to, from everything I've heard. I'll probably watch it shortly before Life During Wartime comes out on DVD, so that I won't be going into that one blind. I'm very sure that none of my theaters will carry it in OV, if it even comes to theaters in Germany.

-TeeJay

TeeJay · 15 Dec 09 :: 00:24

I finally watched Happiness tonight. Holy crap. What a depressing and repulsive movie. But I'm glad I saw it, I'll hopefully be able to understand Life During Wartime much better because I think it'll work on a whole other level if you've seen Happiness. But I surely wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone unless they wanted to torture themselves for 2 hours. I kinda feel like I wanna reclaim those two hours of my life.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 15 Dec 09 :: 00:42

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've heard, which is why I haven't attempted it yet. Isn't it amazing that some people love that movie and find it hysterically funny?

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 15 Dec 09 :: 03:37

Happiness is one of the most messed up movies I've ever seen. I recommend Todd Solondz movie Welcome To The Dollhouse.

Chris Marquette Message Board

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