Movies you may not have seen #4

[gwyn_r]

Continuing my happy movie and must post about something besides my awful life theme, I thought I'd go for a movie that was a huge hit at Sundance a few years ago, but that ended up being a critical and box office disappointment, for reasons I've never understood because I adored it: Happy, Texas. The movie is often used these days as a touch point

Comments

[mlyn]

Sounds wonderful! Thanks for the rec.

[minotaurs]

I agree - that's a favorite of mine as well. I love the quite comedy of it, especially Macy's sherrif, and Illeana Douglas is always fun.

[fishsanwitt]

I *really* loved this movie too :)

[kadymae]

Ralph and I loved this movie for exactly the same reasons. And yes, the sewing maching monolog is the best.

[klia]

Happy, Texas! Yay!

The movie is often used these days as a touch point for discussions about the ditribution bidding wars and how the big hits at festivals don't pan out

And yet? That was the same year The Blair Witch Project was a hit at Sundance and became one of the highest-grossing indies (sorry, I don't count mega-million-dollar Passion of the Christ) ever produced. So, I guess I don't really see that as a valid reason for ragging on a wonderful flick like Happy, Texas.

Six years later, I'm still baffled by the reception HT received outside Sundance. As you said, it's a funny, sweet, charming film, with fabulous performances, and I love it to pieces. I remember it didn't get distributed very widely around here, so maybe that was part of the problem. I'll just never understand the moviegoing public, or critics, for that matter. How craptastic movies like Dodgeball are huge hits while HT gets ignored... pfffftttt.

[gwyn_r]

You know what they say -- no one ever went broke underestimating the American public. Sad, but true.