Another Happy Day (2011)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

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

I mean, how many films out there you can find about dysfunctional families, drug abuse, self harm, loneliness, fear? There are so many.BUT, let me say a few other things about this movie. The cast is so great and well directed that this movie stands up dramatically above many movies I've seen of the same genre. There are so many characters, so many different personalities and all have their segment in the movie.The script was more developed than most drama-comedies out there and I think it contained a lot of situations that we don't often get to see or perhaps they're usually over simplified.I think that Ellen Barkin (I love her work since DownbyLaw, aw I know her words of that movie by heart) really gave an astonishing performance. I felt a lot for her character here, her deep sadness, loneliness, frustration and strength too. I felt like even though she tried so hard to make things work some things weren't going to change, some people would always f**k things up but she persevered, kept trying. Even her mother wasn't even trying to understand her or help her and she had to find all the strength within herself, I really liked this concept and I think many people can relate to it if you watch this movie closely.Ezra was great as always. Kinda often playing the sweet f****d up kid but I guess he's good at it (loved him so much in City Island).Possible flaw: The drug part, Ezra taking the grandfather's drugs twice made me wonder a bit.. I mean after a night of almost overdose is it normal to be all lucid and functional and to like even realize your lips are blue? I would think that after you take a really heavy drug you're like a zombie for a few days, but it would've made the movie even more dramatic if he wouldn't have woken up the next day so I thought it was better this way.I loved the daughter character too. I loved it especially on the part when she found courage to go talk to her dad and asked for some alone time with him and he said not without the wife. The fact she didn't say anything back was really interesting. That was so real, so sad and so relatable and she was good at portraying that, her facial expressions were very communicative.About the wealthiness of that family: American movies most of the times show people living such high quality life in such wealthy families but it's barely how most people actually live in real life. We're all so used to see movies like that, that we got used to the idea that we're just poor and the rest of the people out there must have better houses, like in the movies. We possibly even think that's what we should aim for and it's kinda sad that cinema did this to us.Other than that, I thought this movie was very true in terms relationships. It was very human and showed some real struggle, also, it didn't have a classic happy ending and I really appreciated that.Gosh the step mom's character was so the worst.Anyways, watch it, it's a good drama.

I was blown away by this movie when I first saw it a few years ago. It's one of my all time favorite movies, one that I can go back and watch repeatedly and enjoy it every time. Ellen Barkin is so amazing in this movie, it makes you wonder why she doesn't get more great acting roles these days like this one. Of all her movies I've seen, this is by far my favorite. This was the first performance of Ezra Miller that I had ever seen, from his character's dialogue at the beginning of the movie I could tell I was going to like him and his character. I can't imagine this movie now without him. He is a very talented actor especially for being so young. The performance that really surprised me and blew me away was that of Kate Bosworth. Her character in this is like nothing she as ever played before. She is great in her other roles, but she really shines in this playing a character like Alice, that is very insecure, wounded, and very fragile. She is definitely not a one dimensional actress and can play all kinds of roles. I think this movie deserves a much higher rating and much more respect from the critics. It shows you that you shouldn't always hold so much stock in the reviews and ratings of professional movie critics.

Lynn (Ellen Barkin) is coming back to the family home with his sons Elliot (Ezra Miller) and Ben (Daniel Yelsky) Her eldest son Dylan (Michael Nardelli) is getting married. Her daughter Alice (Kate Bosworth) is also coming. She's a fragile mess. Elliot is a cynical trouble maker who causes havoc. Lynn struggles with her parents (Ellen Burstyn, George Kennedy), her sisters (Siobhan Fallon, Diana Scarwid), her ex-husband (Thomas Haden Church) and his second wife Patty (Demi Moore).This is Sam Levinson's directorial debut and a writer as well. The cast list is very impressive. That may have something to do with the fact that Sam is the son of Barry Levinson. The great actors do some big performances here. Besides the big names, Ezra Miller also gives a good performance. However the whole movie is a chaotic mess of excessive drama with too many characters. More is not always better. The amateur directions never really allow the film to settle down and find a member of this family that we can root for.

An absolutely emotionally drenching film highlighting dysfunction at its worst.By the way, George Kennedy is ailing through most of the film and is practically at death's door. Yet, he is able to go to his grandson's wedding? Come on.Ellen Barkin is the emotionally draining woman whose second husband makes the expression opposites attract most appropriate. Ezra Miller steals the show as the emotionally draining Elliot, her son from her second marriage. Intelligent but beset by problems leading to drug use and smoking, he spends much of the film in verbal outbursts with his mother. Both make excellent use of the four-letter word constantly and it's downright disgusting.Ellen Burstyn is in top form as the matriarch of this brood. She whines and bemoans the fact of what is going on.Thomas Haden Church plays Barkin's first husband who brought up their son Dylan, who is now getting married. His second wife is a memorable Demi Moore who is volatile and has a scene stealing scene with Barkin in the lady's room.This is a film of intense frustration, but yet predictable. Of course, family tragedy at the very end, may very well bring on stability.