Happy Endings
Promotional poster
Directed by	Don Roos
Written by	Don Roos
Produced by	Michael Paseornek Holly Wiersma
Starring	Tom Arnold Jesse Bradford Bobby Cannavale Steve Coogan Laura Dern Maggie Gyllenhaal Lisa Kudrow Jason Ritter
Cinematography	Clark Mathis
Edited by	David Codron
Distributed by	Lions Gate Entertainment
Release date	July 29, 2005 (2005-07-29)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,311,633[1]

Happy Endings is a 2005 American dramedy film written and directed by Don Roos and starring Tom Arnold, Jesse Bradford, Bobby Cannavale, Steve Coogan, Laura Dern, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lisa Kudrow and Jason Ritter.

The expression "happy ending" is a colloquial term for offering sexual release to a client at the end of a massage.

The film follows a diverse group of mostly middle-class Los Angelenos through the emotional ups and downs in their flawed yet very human lives, each loosely connected to each other through a restaurant.

In the first story, Mamie (Lisa Kudrow) reluctantly agrees to work with a would-be young filmmaker (Jesse Bradford) in order to locate the now grown son she secretly gave up for adoption after becoming pregnant from her stepbrother Charley (Steve Coogan) – who is later revealed to be gay – 19 years earlier.

In the second story arc, her stepbrother, and his domestic partner, Gil (David Sutcliffe), are deciding whether or not to confront their friends, a lesbian couple (Laura Dern and Sarah Clarke), regarding the paternity of their son.

And in the third, a young man, Otis (Jason Ritter), is involved with a band and trying to keep his father, Frank (Tom Arnold), from learning that he is gay, while also dealing with the seemingly gold-digging woman, Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who inserts herself into their lives.

Director Don Roos wrote the part of Mamie expressly for Lisa Kudrow after directing her in his earlier film, The Opposite of Sex, which he also wrote.^[2] Originally, the story concerned three sisters.^[3] Maggie Gyllenhaal was not the first choice to play Jude. Gwyneth Paltrow was originally slated to play the part. Gyllenhaal does her own singing in the film. Ray Liotta turned down the role of Frank McKee.^{[citation needed]}

It took 18 months to find financial backing for the production.^[4]

Happy Endings received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 54% rating from 107 critics and 63% from Audience score from 9,111 users.^[5] On Metacritic, it score 57 from 31 critics.^[6]

Roger Ebert (noted film critic) on 14 July 2005 noted that "Maggie Gyllenhaal steals the show", and other "characters not so engaging" and "the film's problem is that we don't much like most of the characters, or care about them". But he still gave the film 2.5 out 3 stars.^[7] Amber Wilkinson from eyeforfilm.co.uk notes on 22 January 2005 that "short and snappy seem to be words long forgotten by filmmakers" and "the cast is strong and some of the lines - particularly the title cards, which pop up to offer back stories - are fun, but there is a lack of heart to the movie".^[8] Dustin Putman from filmfile.com on 16 July 2005 noted "it isn't really adding up to a whole lot" and "the force of the splendid performances take hold and, along with Roos' easeful, non-showy cinematic handle, buoy the film above its more wobbly moments of indifference".^[9]

Happy Endings received nominations for:^[10]

• 2006 Independent Spirit Award for "Best Supporting Female" – Maggie Gyllenhaal
• 2005 Satellite Awards
  • for "Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical" – Tom Arnold
  • for "Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical" – Steve Coogan
  • for "Outstanding Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical"
  • for "Outstanding Screenplay, Original" – Don Roos

• Hyperlink cinema – the film style of using multiple inter-connected story lines

Notes

• Official website
• Happy Endings at IMDb
• Happy Endings at AllMovie
• Happy Endings at the TCM Movie Database
• Happy Endings at Rotten Tomatoes
• Happy Endings at Metacritic