H IS FOR HAPPINESS
"Too Much Quirk"
Content: -2 Extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.
H IS FOR HAPPINESS focuses on Candice Phee, an imaginative 12-year-old girl with lots of pep in her step. In her spare time, she enjoys reading the dictionary and spending time with her Rich Uncle Brian along the Australian coast. However, Candice's family is estranged. Her father and Uncle Brian had a falling out over a business deal and no longer speak. Also, Candice's baby sister, Sky, died in her sleep about a year ago, and her mother is still heartbroken. For obvious reasons, Sky's death put a strain on her mother and father's marriage. Still, Candice won't let her family troubles get her down and depressed.
H IS FOR HAPPINESS starts off promising with themes of a carefree childhood but then gets too weird. The movie has a strong Romantic worldview where imagination, wishful thinking and dreaming of a better future reign supreme. There are some moral elements including reconciliation and friendship. However, H IS FOR HAPPINESS also contains some random lewd content, a drug reference and light foul and vulgar language. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for mature viewers.
(RoRo, B, L, VV, S, N, A, DD, M):
Strong Romantic worldview where imagination and dreaming of a better future reigns supreme, with some moral elements including reconciliation and friendship
No obscenities, five light profanities (mostly OMG), some vulgarities, plus depicted vomiting due to seasickness, and horse defecates
Young girl intentionally tries to drown herself to get two people's attention but then has to save herself when the people bump their heads together, two adults literally bump heads, and there's a little blood, boy jumps out of a tall tree and winds up at the hospital all banged up, character makes a comment about dying a violent death, and mother yells at her daughter and throws a glass in anger towards the wall beside her, and her daughter gets a minor cut in the process
Young boy gives a friend a pair of inflatable breasts made out of beach balls, married couple kisses, teenagers kiss and a teenage couple makes out in the background
Upper male nudity in a swimsuit
Alcohol Use:
Adults drink with dinner
Grieving mother takes "happy pills" at dinner; and,
Dysfunctional family, but they make amends by the end of the movie.
H IS FOR HAPPINESS is a quirky independent movie that follows a 12-year-old girl as she befriends a new boy in her class and tries to heal her family after grief and conflict. H IS FOR HAPPINESS has a promising start but then gets too weird and has a strong Romantic worldview featuring wishful thinking, some random lewd content, a drug reference, and light foul and vulgar language.
Candice Phee is an imaginative 12-year-old with lots of pep in her step. In her spare time, Candice enjoys reading the dictionary and spending time with her Rich Uncle Brian along the Australian coast. However, Candice's family is estranged. Her father and Rich Uncle Brian had a falling out over a business deal and no longer speak. Also, Candice's baby sister, Sky, died in her sleep about a year ago, and her mother is still heartbroken. For obvious reasons, Sky's death put a strain on Candice's parent's marriage.
Still, Candice won't let her family troubles get her down.
One day at school, Candice meets a new boy, Douglas Benson, in her class who she calls Douglas Benson from Another Dimension, because he claims to be from another dimension. The two eventually become thick and even develop a romance.
Meanwhile, Candice's 13th birthday looms, and she's sour that she's not developing like the other girls in her class until Douglas gives her a present – inflatable breasts made of blow-up beach balls. She hatches a plan to hop into the water on a dock during her birthday in hopes that Rich Uncle Brian and her father will jump into the water to rescue her, since she can't swim. Her plan almost works, and she uses the beach balls on her chest to push herself out of the depths of the water, but the two estranged brothers literally bump heads in the process. Candice's plan is an utter flop.
To add to Candice's family frustrations, it seems as though her mother is no closer to moving on from Sky's death. This puts a rift in Candice's hopes to have a happy life.
One day, Douglas jumps from a large tree thinking he will be transported back into "his dimension," only to wind up in the hospital. Thankfully, Douglas is okay, but it's clear from his mother that this isn't new behavior for him, and that's why she's so protective over who he befriends. Consequently, his mother is grateful for Candice.
The movie concludes as Candice and her classmates put together a skit about the alphabet and what letters represent various characteristics in life.
H IS FOR HAPPINESS starts off promising with themes of a carefree childhood but then gets weird. Think of a Wes Anderson movie like THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL or MOONRISE KINGDOM. H IS FOR HAPPINESS functions similarly with vibrant colors and child actors who have likeable characteristics but often take on matters that adults should work out themselves. Also, the movie's sound sometimes seems a bit distant.
H IS FOR HAPPINESS has a strong Romantic worldview where imagination, wishful thinking and dreaming of a better future reign supreme. There are some moral elements including reconciliation and friendship. However, H IS FOR HAPPINESS also has some random lewd content, a drug reference and some light foul and vulgar language. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for mature viewers.
Watch H IS FOR HAPPINESS:
Starring: Daisy Axon, Emma Booth, Miriam Margoyles, Richard Roxburgh, Joel Jackson, Wesley Patten, Alessandra Tognini
Audience: Teenagers and adults
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Director: John Sheedy
Executive Producer: Richard East, Bryce Menzies, Jonathan Page, Avril Stark
Producer: Lisa Hoppe, Tenille Kennedy, Julie Ryan
Writer: Lisa Hoppe
Peter Goldwyn, President, Samuel Goldwyn Films
9570 West Pico Blvd., 4th Floor
Phone: (310) 860-3100; Fax: (310) 860-3195
Website: www.samuelgoldwynfilms.com; Email: info@samuelgoldwynfilms.com