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Memorable, crazy movie

hyped garbage

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Todd Solandz's films are generally hit-or-miss affairs, and the line between hitting or missing is generally quite fine. Always emotionally intense, and character-based, they can be taxing, even dull or pretentious, but hold the promise of being mind-blowingly profound. Solandz's magnum opus was Happiness, in 1998. An incredibly profound movie, it hit the spot. Palindromes, in 2004, missed the spot, seeming random and pretentious. Life in Wartime has the potential to be like Happiness, but is always teetering on the edge of being nothing-dressed-up-as-something, like Palindromes. In the end it is an interesting journey, but it never clicks up that notch necessary to make it profound. In the end you feel that the journey was a waste of time.

I am not too happy about Writer-Director Todd Solondz' sequel to his 1998 critically acclaimed 1998 indie film "Happiness". "Life During Wartime" should have been titled "Life During Boretime" because its mind-numbing melancholy tone is a bunch of borea borea! Sure "Happiness" was also melancholy, but it was thought-provoking and compelling; no matter how dreary and repugnant the characters were. "Life During Wartime" plays around with the same characters as the original- sisters Joy, Trish, Helen; pedophile Bill Maplewood straight out of jail; son Billy now in college; plus some new characters including Timmy who is Billy's younger brother and also son of Father Bill. The major shift here is that all these characters are portrayed by other actors; no Phillip Seymour Hoffman, or Cynthia Stevenson, or even Dylan Baker, which all deserved Oscar nominations for their "Happiness" performances. In "Life During Wartime"- Joy is still miserable, Trish is still hypocritical, and Helen is still self-centered. Maplewood is like a dead man walking throughout most of the film, and not like a rehabilitated pedophile striving to change his past ways. The actors do their best, but it was really a battle for them to invoke any authenticity to their characters in their wartime duty because of Solondz' sloppy writing and direction. I am a big fan of Solondz' "Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "Happiness", and included those movies as two of my favorites of the 1990's. But since the millennium, Solondz' archetype style of developing gloomy and despicable characters has run it course; and too many disturbed and sad characters in recent past Solondz' film creations have become a nuisance instead of a revelation. In other words, his Toddatales have become continuous dead-end narratives, instead of insightful character studies. Now some of the performances in "Life During Wartime" were noteworthy including Allison Janney as Trish, Ally Sheedy as Helen, and Paul Reubens as Joy dumpee- Andy. Yes, there is a Pee-Wee sighting in "Life During Wartime" and it's a good one. Reubens' supporting performance as Andy might just very well be the life of "Life During Wartime". OK, I know I need to get a life but I also know that you don't need to get a "Life During Wartime". **Needs Improvement

The last words of this film for me were absolute perfection. While this film did have its flaws, the things it got right made up for all of them. There are some profound ideas in this film that can be overlooked if you're too focused on the bizarre storyline. But perhaps ideas like this can only be accurately portrayed with content as explicit as this. Solondz's films are exactly what they appear to be. They hide nothing, and I think that's what turns people off. People want a fantasy. They don't want to see backdrops of Taco Bell parking lots and they certainly don't want to hear about pedophilia or about the sort of unhappy talk they hear in their own families hoisted up on the big screen. I admit I didn't really care for the 'ghost' sequences but they were certainly entertaining. The timing and subtlety really shines here, every actor was excellent. I really didn't know what would happen next-one of the big reasons I am a Solondz fan. That facet alone makes his films true to life. People call this a bad 'vanity project' but I disagree. I laughed out loud, I was shocked, amazed, and at the end of the last scene I was literally breathless.

Life During Wartime is of sorts a sequel to Happiness, but Todd Solondz chose a different cast for his latest film to play the same characters. I have seen Happiness, but don't remember it well enough and going into Wartime was actually unaware it was a continuation of events.Three sisters, Joy, Helen and Trish are utterly different souls leading utterly different lives. Joy is a little scattered and has just separated from her husband and is visited by the ghost of a former co worker. Trish lives with her two younger kids, one of whom Timmy is preparing for his bar mitzvah. She has started dating again after her husband was jailed for molesting children, but she is unaware he has been released. Trish is a successful screenwriter in Hollywood, but is old and distant towards the rest of her family.The sisters lives intertwine together and with characters from each others past and all three try and long to find love and happiness and is for the most part very enjoyable. I recall, perhaps vaguely that Solondz' other films are a little hard going and often harsh, yet Wartime feels a little brighter. However there are some uncomfortable moments in it, such as where Trish explains her feelings towards to her new man to her son or Timmy's inquisitive questioning about 'faggots', but moments are few.Acting across the cast is excellent with a fine performance from Alison Janney as Trish and whilst squeaky voiced Shirley Henderson can often be annoying in this she is almost endearing. It is a dark film and while it never shocks out right, it does venture to the borderline. And while it's not laugh out loud there are some funny moments in it. You don't have to be familiar with Happiness to enjoy this film, even if it's a typical audience divider film, it works well on it's on. Nor do you have to be a Solondz fan to enjoy this, though those that are will relish the film even more.More of my reviews at iheartfilms.weebly.com