Films: Happy Tears

Happy Tears

USA, 2009, 96 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: Comedy, Drama, Family Issues, Music
Program: Contemporary World Cinema
Language: English

DIRECTOR: Mitchell Lichtenstein
Producer: Joyce Pierpoline, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Timothy J. DeBaets (exec)
Editor: Joe Landauer
Screenwriter: Mitchell Lichtenstein
Cinematographer: Jamie Anderson
Principal Cast: Parker Posey, Demi Moore, Rip Torn, Ellen Barkin

Returning to the house they grew up in, sisters Jayne (Parker Posey) and Laura (Demi Moore) are about to take on the first man they just might not be able to handle: their aging, irascible father Joe (Rip Torn). Laura suspects that he needs full-time care; Jayne refuses to believe that their father’s condition is serious. Yet her denial only makes Laura more determined to yank her back to reality.

Meanwhile, Joe still sings and plays the blues on his prized guitar – and the lively widower even has a new lady friend, the sassy, if not shameless, Shelly (Ellen Barkin). But as the signs of his imminent senility increase, family dynamics spiral out of control. Adding to the tension is the fact that the sisters have their own, very different lives to manage – Laura is a dedicated environmentalist with three small children, while Jayne is growing desperate to have a baby of her own with her husband Jackson, a workaholic art dealer.

Explaining the title of the film, director Mitchell Lichtenstein has said that “it’s the apparent contradictory nature of the term [that] attracted me. And the idea that good can come out of bad. Jayne does something totally irresponsible, but out of it comes something very good. Joe has a terminal illness, but it brings the family together. … Happy Tears is also the title of a painting by my father, so it’s a nod to him.”

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