Another Happy Day (2011)

Fans of cringe-y dysfunctional family stories will like this, as we did. Others will not. Ellens Barkin and Burstyn go head to head as an acting-out grown daughter and her "quietly furious" mother at the wedding of their son/grandson. The directing debut of Sam Levinson (Barry's 25 year old son) who also wrote it, this is an example of Jack's maxim that no matter how messed up you think your family is, someone's is worse. Oh yeah, and the title is a complete lie.

My favorites of Barkin's work are Barry's debut Diner (1982), Desert Bloom (1986), Down by Law (1986), Sea of Love (1989), Switch (1991)--so funny--where she plays a man trapped in a woman's body, This Boy's Life (1993), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), and She Hate Me (2004). Here she is a woman on the verge, with terrible TMJ and a knack for pushing away those she wants closest. For Burstyn, I loved her Oscar winning role in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), her nominated roles in The Last Picture Show (1971), The Exorcist (1973--okay, I didn't like that one much), Same Time, Next Year (1978), Resurrection (1980--it was on my short list of all-time faves once), Requiem for a Dream, as well as The Fountain (2006), W., and the series The Book of Daniel. Then there's a big and impressive cast of supporting characters, including Ezra Miller (covered in City Island), Kate Bosworth, Thomas Haden Church, Demi Moore (very funny as the trashy second wife), George Kennedy, young Daniel Yelsky, and, as the shrewish laughing sisters, Siobhan Fallon and Diana Scarwid.

Here is a song from Ólafur Arnalds' soundtrack. The movie was shot entirely in Rochester, Michigan, half an hour north of Detroit.

And, ladies and gentlemen, we have a new winner of the Producers Plethora Prize, formerly held by Get Low at 23. Jack and I usually count. This has end credits, and we thought we had counted 20 including executive, co-, associate, and one each supervising and line, and then there were two cards with six more each, bringing our total to 32. 29 are listed on imdb, which is still a winner. The long list includes Barkin (here's an interview with her at Sundance, where the movie was nominated for Best Picture and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award) and Michael Nardelli, who plays the son getting married. This may not be the best cringe-y dysfunctional family movie you'll ever see, but it's still pretty good.