What impresses most in Happiness is the assurance of Solondz' vision. Regardless of whether you love or hate the content, this film is fully realized. It has a voice. Happiness feels utterly like one man's vision.
Happiness has an almost perfectly-modulated tone.
Solondz cranks the dial just off of the station a bit, to where there's that almost imperceptibe fringe of static. They look just like real life. But it's somebody's dream-state real life, and the sense of alternate reality is palpable. Happiness is the best kind of personal filmmaking. I don't have to love Solondz, or his characters, or his story, or his point of view, to be thankful that he wrestled them onto a screen.