Happy Tears - Review

I just finished watching "Happy Tears" (i got it from the Redbox... i must remember to return it tommorrow!). I will say that I enjoyed the movie but it's not a movie I can wholeheartedly recommend. The plot of the story is that two sister's (Parker Posey and Demi Moore) return home to deal with their father who has been diagnosed with dementia. The sisters are polar opposites - Posey being eccentric, flighty, and delusional and Moore being a responsible hippie type older sister. We see them deal with past issues - a cheating scumbag type father, the death of their mother, and growing up in this type of household - and we see them deal with their father's new girlfriend, a crack-addict pretending to be a nurse and taking advantage of their father. The whole movie is very quirky - Parker frequently goes off into dream states where she imagines sales clerks turning into buzzards, her husband literally bouncing off padded walls, and Parker floating around on a giant jellyfish. This may sound crazy, but i felt it fell in accurately with her character. Through it all there are lots of heartbreaking scenes and a few touching ones mixed in. There are no real "Happy Tears" in the movie but it didn't leave me feeling depressed either. i really liked the cinematagraphy in the movie for the most part (I don't know why but indie films always seem to have that unique look to them). The movie follows this journey over few weeks and we get to watch!

Now to the why i liked the movie!

One - there was a quote in the end about looking for something in life without knowing what it looked like, and the suprise and pleasure that you get when you find it and see it for the first time. I like this idea because i think that really applies to all of us. We are all searching for something and half the time we don't know what it is. I don't mean spiritually although that does apply depending on where you are in your journey. I know for myself that I am on a journey to find and become the best me and find my best life. I don't know what they look like but i know that they are out there and am excited to see them when i get there!

Two- i am very interested in the social unit called family. I work with families and am always fascinated at how they work. In my line of work we tend to think that we know the one way that is a normal safe functioning family and try to structure those that we work with in that manner. The reality is that there are so many ways that familes work and successfully function. I see that every day. I will talk to a family and it is nothing like what i view is normal, but it is functioning. So I saw yet another example of a very different family than mine, and it wasn't the best but it did work for them. I enjoyed seeing it.

So in synopsis i liked but can't recommend it. You decide.. has anyone else seen it? Tell me what you thought!