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Eyewitness account – Chloe, aged 28 (Ciao)
“Happy, Texas” is one of those films that sounds like it’s going to be stupid, or rubbish or a bit of both. I certainly wasn’t impressed with Ian suggesting we ... Read review
Three prisoners on a chain gang find themselves on the loose inHappy, Texaswhen their ... more
prison van overturns to avoid hitting an armadillo. Two of them--Jeremy Northam and Steve Zahn--steal an RV that turns out to belong to two junior-beauty-pageant prom...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Popular stars Steve Zahn (Forces Of Nature, You've Got Mail, Out Of Sight), Jeremy Northam ... more
(Enigma, Mimic) and William H. Macy (Jurassic Park III, Fargo) enliven a hilarious comedy where a case of mistaken identity leads to a beauty of a con game. When...
Three prisoners on a chain gang find themselves on the loose inHappy, Texaswhen their ... more
prison van overturns to avoid hitting an armadillo. Two of them--Jeremy Northam and Steve Zahn--steal an RV that turns out to belong to two junior-beauty-pageant prom...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
They need pros. They're getting cons. Popular stars Steve Zahn (Forces Of Nature You've ... more
Got Mail Out Of Sight) Jeremy Northam (An Ideal Husband Mimic) and William H. Macy (Mystery Men A Civil Action Fargo) enliven a hilarious comedy where a case...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Advantages: good old fashioned silly humour Disadvantages: can be a bit unbelievable
Exhibit A – snippet from “Pageant World” article
“Got an upcoming pageant in your small-town community?
Need some help from a couple of fairy godfathers?
Then look no further than David and Steven!!
They’ll make all your wishes come true, helping you to host the teenage beauty pageant of your dreams.”
Eyewitness account - Maddie, aged 8
Our teacher, Ms Schaefer, ... ...us girls ever get into the final. This year she decided to call in professional help, after reading the article she found in “Pageant World”. She said two nice men were going to come and help us to win the pageant. When they turned up in their caravan, the big one (Steven) said he was going to handle the money, and the funny looking little one (David) was going to actually teach us everything we needed to know. He didn’t seem to know what he was ... more
Exhibit A – snippet from “Pageant World” article
“Got an upcoming pageant in your small-town community?
Need some help from a couple of fairy godfathers?
Then look no further than David and Steven!!
They’ll make all your wishes come true, helping you to host the teenage beauty pageant of your dreams.”
Eyewitness account - Maddie, aged 8
Our teacher, Ms Schaefer, always organises our beauty pageant every year, and none of us girls ever get into the final. This year she decided to call in professional help, after reading the article she found in “Pageant World”. She said two nice men were going to come and help us to win the pageant. When they turned up in their caravan, the big one (Steven) said he was going to handle the money, and the funny looking little one (David) was going to actually teach us everything we needed to know. He didn’t seem to know what he was doing at first, but eventually he got better at it, and so did we.
Interview – suspect Harry Sawyer a.k.a. “Steven”
It was all Wayne’s fault. We were working on a chain gang when he picked a fight with the nastiest criminal from the prison, Bob Allen. It resulted in a fracas, ending up with the prison van being totalled. We escaped, still chained together, and had to steal a motor home. We didn’t realise it belonged to professional pageant organisers, but when they offered us money to help them, we couldn’t turn it down, so we pretended to be the real Steven and David. We didn’t realise that what happened would happen, and we’re really truly sorry for the pain we’ve caused to this gentle, decent town, which took us to its heart.
“Happy, Texas” is one of those films that sounds like it’s going to be stupid, or rubbish or a bit of both. I certainly wasn’t impressed with Ian suggesting we watched it, but my past experiences with Ian have taught me nothing if not that Ian is usually right in recommending films he’s read about that he thinks I might enjoy.
It turns out that “Happy, Texas” is one of those rare comedy films, which has just enough slapstick, silliness, and heart-warming moments to make it really enjoyable to watch. The concept isn’t too hard to follow, and the reason they get to where they are becomes unimportant about halfway through the film, and finally you’re just rooting for the town to get into the finals, and the men to get the girls. Then the film is a bit sneaky, and brings a surprise onto you that you really aren’t expecting, which only serves to make it all the more interesting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like a “Sixth Sense” twist (and you might spot it a mile off, anyway, I am fairly gullible) but it’s a little jump in the story at any rate.
The best performance must go to William H. Macy (as with most films he’s in) as the gay cop in Happy; he is both funny and yet tragic, and gives a totally believable performance. To be honest, no one was ever going to win awards for acting, special effects, make-up or cinematography, but that isn’t what the film is about. I believe it sets out to be enjoyable little story, based around a ridiculous set of circumstances, which makes you laugh, but is ultimately throwaway. It succeeds in all but the latter of these; I’ll never get rid of my copy.
Advantages: William H Macy Disadvantages: The 2 "stars" are complete unknowns
Take 2 complete unknowns to movies and cast them as convicts on the run from the police, one is a car thief, one is a fraudster. Take Ron Perlman (City Of Lost Children, Alien Resurrection) playing a US Marshall chasing them and a third convict on the run who is a murderer. Then take the awesome William H Macy (pretty much playing a similar role to the one he did in Pleasantville so he's pretty typecast here) playing a small town sheriff who turns ... ...criminals steal a camper van that belongs to 2 gay pageant organizers who they are mistaken for and the "jokes" start and promptly finish there. Macy plays the small town cop very well, trying to hide his homosexuality from the bigots. It's basically a story of mistaken identity, people hiding their true selves and people hiding behind facades. The outcome of the local kids winning the show is pretty predictable. That they don't rob the bank, likewise ...
atytyut2434 20.03.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Happy Texas (DVD)
Advantages: highly amusing, slightly stupid Disadvantages: its always on so late at night
...one in Texas would be happy to have two gay men move in next door. Not that Im saying anything about Texas but it is down south and you know what they say....!
The Actors
If Happy, Texas' central plotline - of the two conmen coming to care about the small-town folk they were planning to dupe - is hardly unexpected, it's worked out with some warm and sensitive scripting, especially in the exchanges between Harry and Joe. Jeremy Northam turns in ... ...As the secondary couple Steve Zahn and Illeana Douglas get less support from the script and tend to ham it up accordingly. But acting honours are stolen, not for the first time by the peerless William H. Macy as the lovelorn sheriff. His Texas-shuffle number, in the gay bar where he takes Harry on a date, and his tearful response to Harry's rejection is genuinely moving
It is a most enjoyable film based around relationships, amusing problems, situations ...
Rob664 05.05.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Happy Texas (DVD)
Two escaped convicts driving a stolen car are pulled over and think they're being arrested. They are, in fact, being welcomed as the owners of the vehicle who are a gay couple arriving to organise a beauty pageant...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINM; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
"...An irresistibly winsome and winning comedy....HAPPY, TEXAS is arguably the funniest American film in years..." -- 4 1/2 out of 5 stars (Box Office, p.77-8, 01/07/1999)
"...HAPPY, TEXAS is a hoot, a hilarious comedy that's smart and caring....It sparkles with deliciously spot-on, career-advancing performances..." (Los Angeles Times, p.C2, 01/10/1999)
"...HAPPY, TEXAS keeps the laughs coming..." (Rolling Stone, p.136, 14/10/1999)
"...Anyone who likes comedies with a twist should put this on the top of their to-rent list..." (Total Film, p.98, 01/06/2000)
DVD Description
Harry Sawyer (Northam) and Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. (Zahn) are two escaped convicts who find themselves in Happy, Texas. When they are mistaken for a gay couple who are in town to host a local beauty pageant, they use the opportunity to slip into character and avoid the authorities. Obviously, the bumbling, heterosexual criminals don't have a clue as to what they're doing, and when romance appears in the form of a distraught banker (Walker) and a tacky teacher (Douglas), their real personas threaten to emerge and blow their cover. Zahn's hysterical performance won him a Special Jury Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.
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