Happy Endings (a.k.a. Winter Passing), 2005.
Written and Directed by Adam Rapp.
Starring Ed Harris, Zooey Deschanel, Will Ferrell, and Amelia Warner.
SYNOPSIS:
After being offered $100,000 for love letters exchanged between her famous author parents, struggling New York actress Reece Holden (Zooey Deschenal) decides to return to her home and visit her father, Don Holden (Ed Harris), in an effort to discover the letters. However, on returning to her childhood home she finds that things have changed considerably in the time that she’s been away; in particular her reclusive father is now sharing what was the family home with an ex-student of his, Shelley (Amelia Warner) and a sort of odd-job man called Corbit (Will Ferrell).
The opening of this film couldn’t be much further from the title if it tried. Deschanel paints a very gloomy picture of the tortuous life of a poorly-paid theatre actress in New York. She exhibits self-destructive behaviour; jamming her fingers in a drawer, resisting companionship by engaging in one-night stands and using cocaine. Although her portrayal is very good and convincing, the introduction to the character goes on for too long and almost threatened to stall the film. Once she has received the offer from a book editor for her Father’s letters for the large sum, her journey home begins and so does the more interesting part of the film.
Writer and director Adam Rapp was known more for his theatre work and consequently the character interplay between the four works well: Ferrell turns down his humour until it comes out in an understated manner as the shy but very protective handy man Corbit goes about his daily chores. Amelia Warner plays an English ex-student of Holden’s who doesn’t want her former tutor to sink further into his reclusive darkness than he already has; Ed Harris delivering a fine performance as an intelligent man racked by regret over the suicide of his wife, and the apparent lack of attention he paid to his daughter when she was younger. Joined by Deschanel’s good display of the broken Reece, seeking more than just old letters from her Father, this is an enjoyable film that is worth sticking with past the lengthy introduction.
Originally released in 2005 under the title of Winter Passing it has been renamed Happy Endings for its release this time. Perhaps a question mark wouldn’t go amiss at the end of the new title?
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
J-P Wooding – Follow me on Twitter.
Originally published October 7, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
