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ANOTHER HAPPY DAY

What You Need To Know:

ANOTHER HAPPY DAY is not so happy. It’s a rather depressing, but sometimes funny, movie about a really dysfunctional family. The story is about a woman who unites with three of her children at her aging parents’ home to attend the wedding of her estranged eldest son. The three other children are a damaged college-age daughter recovering from cutting herself, an acerbic teenage son hooked on prescription medications, and a younger son who’s slightly autistic. Lynn hopes for a joyful reunion, but, she gets little help from anybody, including her mean teenage son, mother, her own two sisters, her first husband’s wife, or even the second husband.

Some deft dialogue and terrific acting by both veterans and newcomers in ANOTHER HAPPY DAY cannot hide the fact that this rather depressing movie’s filled with abundant crude language. The mood swings among the characters are a bit pat and often annoying. Most, if not all, of the obscene, crude content is gratuitous. Furthermore, the movie’s worldview is indirect and even erratic. Also, the ending comes to no real climax but just ends. Average moviegoers probably will want to skip this unpleasant family reunion.

Content:

(RoRoRo, APAP, B, PC, LLL, V, S, NNN, AA, DDD, MMM) Very strong Romantic worldview that makes American middle class families look terrible with some light moral elements where female protagonist and others sometimes try to do the right thing but they’re overwhelmed by their situations and their own sinful nature but movie and its filmmakers seem clueless about that problem so there’s no really positive resolution to virtually anything and the nicest seeming character in the script has only a minor role, plus some politically correct comments against Fox News that betray the implied Anti-American agenda cited above; about 98 mostly strong obscenities, 10 strong profanities, and 11 light profanities; some violence includes two women fight, young woman shows scars where she cut herself, lawnmower runs into tree, and elderly character dies; some crude sexual references but no sex scenes; full frontal male nudity when man makes coffee in kitchen early one morning when he’s alone and two or three scenes of upper male nudity; alcohol use and light abuse; smoking cigarettes, brief marijuana use, and troubled, acerbic, and selfish teenager steals prescription drugs from grandfather to get high; and, very strong miscellaneous immorality and problems include father is uninvolved with his two sons, lying, stealing, many dysfunctional family dynamics, woman screams obscene at first husband in therapy session, women argue, women make fun of teenager and younger boy, troubled teenager and his mother say very rude things to one another.

More Detail:

ANOTHER HAPPY DAY is not so happy. It’s a rather depressing, but sometimes funny, independent movie about a really dysfunctional family. Some cinema enthusiasts will love it, some will hate it, but media-wise, discerning viewers, including many average moviegoers, will find it extreme, way too lewd, too dark, and sometimes even grim.

In the story, Ellen Barkin plays Lynn, a moody, sensitive remarried woman. Lynn has a damaged college-age daughter in recovery from cutting herself, an acerbic teenage son hooked on prescription medications, a younger son who’s slightly autistic, and an older estranged son about to get married. The older son and daughter come from her first marriage. She raised the daughter but not the elder son.

Lynn travels to her mother’s house with her two younger sons, Elliot and Ben, to attend the older son, Dylan’s, wedding. Lynn hopes for a joyful reunion, but she’s not anxious to see her first husband, Paul, and his opinionated wife, Patty. She’s also anxious about whether her troubled daughter, Alice, will show up.

Of course, after they arrive, Lynn’s hopes are slowly dashed. Her aloof, disdainful mother and ailing, distant, senile father don’t help matters. Neither does her son, Elliot, who continually lobs verbal grenades at his mother and her relatives while secretly getting high on some of his grandfather’s mood-altering medication. Making matters worse, her ex-husband, Paul, tries to repair things with their daughter, Alice, but he keeps saying all the wrong things. Finally, Lynn’s two sisters are rather mean and given to mockery of other people, especially Lynn’s two sons by her second husband.

Some deft dialogue and terrific acting by both veterans and newcomers in ANOTHER HAPPY DAY cannot hide the fact that this rather depressing movie’s filled with abundant crude language. Though the troubled daughter is a sympathetic character, as is the mother sometimes, the grandmother’s frequent condescension and neglect toward her daughter Lynn’s feelings are annoying. So is the cynical, drug-addled son, who often acts like a condescending, foul-mouthed creep. In fact, he’s so annoying that Lynn, the protagonist in this family circus, sometimes lashes out at him in harsh ways that don’t always seem realistic or believable. Neither she nor any of the other adults really confront this young jerk or try to give him any discipline. Ultimately, many of the mood swings among these characters become annoying and contrived. They vary from being conciliatory to being shrill, depressing, mean, apathetic, victimized, annoying, and self-absorbed.

At 119 minutes, ANOTHER HAPPY DAY sort of wears out its welcome. Most, if not all, of the obscene, crude content is extremely gratuitous. Furthermore, the movie’s worldview is indirect and even erratic, but it does seem to present a very dark view of the American middle class family, as previous independent movies like AMERICAN BEAUTY have done. Also, the ending in ANOTHER HAPPY DAY comes to no real climax but just ends. The ending suggests that, although nothing’s resolved, these family members may eventually have another family reunion, but that’s one event the average moviegoer probably will want to skip, especially after sitting through ANOTHER HAPPY DAY.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.