Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

Blucher One of the worst movies I've ever seen

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Geoffrey DeLeons Happy Texas is one of the best movies I've ever seen. It has laughs, suspense, kindness and intelligence. The acting and inter-personal dynamics are excellent. Besides the stellar performances by everyone in the cast, I think special mention should go to Ally Walker as Josephine McClintock. The scene at her house, where she and Jeremy Northam's character are painting props, and all of the scenes between her and him, are extremely well-done. Harry Sawyer's reserved, rather civilized demeanor somehow works well with Wayne Wayne Jr.'s outspokenness and physical aggressiveness. The re-introduction of Bob Maslow was done at a perfect time, and that is an unexpected twist in the plot. I appreciated many things about the ending scene at the prison performance by the Happy Girls: Doreen and Wayne still wanted each other. Josephine and Harry still had a chance at a (delayed) reunion. Harry could be out in under two years. The girls' performance of What's So Great About Love (complete with the spastic moves Wayne taught them) was excellent. I love how the movie was filmed in big, bright colors with lots of outdoor scenes: None of the morose, ashen tones that are prevalent today. The soundtrack is great. Some of the best scenes are between Northam and Walker: Jo: "I haven't had a girlfriend in a really long time..."Harry: "Neither have I." (him having been in prison)Jo: "That's funny." (thinking he is referring to his gayness).and...Jo (yelling from tow truck): "What are you doing?"Harry: "I'm trying to save you!"Jo: Well stop! I'm trying to save you! If i don't kill you, first...Steve Zahn should have won an Oscar for his performance. "Remember to keep the beat!"I have watched Happy, Texas many times and it always "brings em' back alive".

gcd70 Cleverly conceived comedy that never makes enough of its potential humour. Mark Illsner's film finds two rather inept criminals on the lamb and posing as beauty pageant hosts.Jeremy Northam and Steve Zahn do well together, with Zahn getting the best opportunities to make us laugh. Even better in support is the talented William H. Macy as the local sheriff of Happy; and Ron Perlman surprises as a very convincing Texas Marshall.Having said all this, the film lets itself down with its lack of humour.Sunday, January 2, 2000 - Hoyts Chadstone

fierypoeticgirl WOW! This film is well written, performed, executed..you name it, it's worth the time to watch. Steve Zahn has always been a favorite actor of mine. Obviously, he can do any role or any dialect, portray any character with credibility, and bring a genuine smile to the spectator's face. "Happy, Texas" is an adorable film, and what a great plot. As usual, William H. Macy is the consummate actor as well. Well, actually, everyone was good in this film. The movie made me laugh and really gave me an entertaining couple of hours. We need more movies like this! One thing I did find strange was that Steve Zahn, who played "David" in the town, was able to sew. Now how strange is that? Who cares? It was a marvelously fun film, and I want to see more of Steve Zahn in the future!!!

iisdbomb Good premise, forced Zahn comedy, forced love stories, GREAT MACY as always. When I watched the 2nd time (yesteday), I found it even harder to get through. The Director/Writer special feature on the DVD was enlightening and will encourage any wannabee filmmaker.The hard part to believe is that in 1999 this film made it to Sundance and was picked up by Miramax. This just needed a better script and less forced plot to be an interesting character film. Seems like everyone wants to make a quirky FARGO but ends up with broad, contrived, unfunny small-town characters.I am currently in pre-production on my first feature film called "PIGS" and I base my own comedy on 2 things: real situations, fresh characters who are complex to the point that their inadequacies prompt conflict with other characters. Plus I've got a killer Amish sub-plot that is a twisted WITNESS tale. (Am I talking about my own film too much? It's only because I have to fill these 10 stupid lines and I've said everything about Happy.)