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| Happy Accidents |
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  (7/10)
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Runtime: 110 |
| Public Rating: 10.00 (2 votes) |
Director: Brad Anderson |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Romantic Comedy/Sci-fi |
Year: 2001 |
| Writer(s): Brad Anderson |
| Reviewed by: Goatdog |
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Here's a movie where the casting was essential to its success. Marisa Tomei and Vincent D'Onofrio star as a couple whose tendencies match each other perfectly. Tomei plays a codependent woman who seems to seek out losers and weirdoes and attempts to fix their problems, usually at the expense of her own emotional health. She is currently in therapy because of recent revelations made to her by her new boyfriend, played by D'Onofrio. It seems that he is from the year 2470, and he has come back from the future through a process called "backtraveling" to save her from accidental death. He saw a picture of her in a curio shop and fell in love with her. She thinks he's crazy, but there's something about him...
That "something" is that it would not be difficult to believe that D'Onofrio was either an alien disguised as a human, or that he was completely out of place in today's society. There's just something odd about him. Despite his size, he always reminded me of a huge child, unable to help expressing his wonder and slight fear of the world. There's a scene where he is meeting Tomei's parents and their lap dog jumps into his lap. Since there are no animals in the future due to "the infestation," he's terrified of them. Watch as his believable fear turns into a childlike happiness when he pets the dog: "I didn't know they'd be so soft." It's a lot like watching a child eat ice cream for the first time; first the grimace at the cold, then the delight at the taste. He insists that he's from the future, and I would probably believe him if I were Tomei.
She believes him, but she doesn't want to. Tomei is capable of such a wide range of emotion just using her expressive face that, often, she doesn't have to speak for the viewer to know exactly what she thinks in great detail. At the urging of a friend to whom she told everything, she treats it like a game the two of them are playing. She asks about his life in the future, and he tells her. Both are happy to be talking, but for different reasons. Her therapist attempts to free her from her addiction to oddballs, but I think secretly she doesn't want to be cured. She instinctively knows what her mother reveals to her in a conversation late in the film.
The movie also has its share of hilarious moments, such as a featured cameo by Anthony Michael Hall that had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. Roger Ebert says that it's the best cameo since Marshall McLuhan's unforgettable appearance at the movie theater in Annie Hall, and I am inclined to agree.
The movie starts off really well, progresses at an enjoyable pace, and falters a little about 2/3 of the way through. It gets a bit repetitive: she believes him, she doesn't. He's from the future, he's a nutcase. Maybe if the film had been twenty minutes shorter it would have kept up the fun pace. Few comedies are improved by longer running times, and at 110 minutes, this one could have used some trimming. Overall, though, it was highly enjoyable, and it is a shame that it isn't getting the press that a stupid teen movie or a slasher film would get. It's one of those intelligent romantic comedies that, if you see them, make you wonder why there weren't more out there like it. There are.
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