Happy Tears

Time Investment: 95 min.
Return on Investment: 75 min.
 
Having seen Mitchell Lichtenstein’s first feature, the vagina dentata horror flick Teeth, one is not sure what to expect from this pop artist’s son who turned from acting to directing. This sentiment continues to hold true, perhaps more so, for Lichtenstein’s second feature, Happy Tears (Roadside Attractions).
 
A somewhat surreal study of two very different sisters dealing with their dying father and their expectations of family, Tears stars gay favorite Parker Posey, in signature wacky mode, as Jayne, the shopaholic trophy wife of a famous painter’s neurotic son who must fly from her comfortable San Francisco lifestyle of buying thousand-dollar boots to dreary Pittsburgh to help her critical sister, Laura (Demi Moore), care for their dementia-ridden father (Rip Torn), whose cowboy attitude and drug-addict girlfriend (Ellen Barkin) prove a sizable challenge and shock to her rose-colored outlook.
 
The at-times messy conglomerate of themes—family, unmet expectations, death and child bearing—come off as a gay counter to Tamara Jenkins’ overrated 2007 dark comedy, The Savages. While Tears’ special effects and surreal visual flares seem more appropriate for The Lovely Bones, Lichtenstein’s heart seems in the right place—even if this more complicated emotional exploration isn’t as solid as Teeth. But his real achievement is a commendably acted film, with Posey, Moore and Barkin all shining.