A cringe-inducing, self-consciously kooky indie comedy that's best enjoyed for its taste of Rip Torn, who, judging by his recent alleged bank break-in, comes to loose-cannon stuff naturally.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Feb 19, 2010

Writer and director Mitchell Lichtenstein struggles to find the humor in a host of horrors.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 19, 2010

Hollywood's strong female actors have in Lichtenstein a young talent who gives them the roles they deserve.

| Original Score: B | Feb 18, 2010

Happy Tears is a complete mess of a movie, but Lichtenstein conjures some sweet moments and striking metaphors -- and none more striking than Posey's $500 boots, which look either black or blue, given the available light.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 18, 2010

Happy Tears settles for the usual moments, even at its quirkiest.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Feb 18, 2010

In the role of a dialed-down, capable woman, Demi Moore suggests dramatic possibilities for future roles. She projects a kind of calm, and it's attractive.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 18, 2010

Not even the reliable Posey can salvage this slag heap, and fans of the iconic Indiewood starlet -- Poseyphiles? Parkerheads? -- will be especially crestfallen.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 17, 2010

A vulgar, happy-as-cancer aberration that takes the dysfunctional family idea to a new low. Whimsical, yes. Happy, never.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Feb 17, 2010

Other than the guest-starring appearance of Cy Twombly canvases, nothing distinguishes this poor relation of The Savages from all the other emotionally fraudulent Amerindies about familial dysfunction and reconciliation.

| Feb 16, 2010

Succeeds only at suggesting the incompatibility of returning-home dramedy and surrealistic flights of fancy.

| Original Score: .5/4 | Feb 15, 2010

Lichtenstein dutifully unpacks the family's unhappy past, but he's so easily distracted by surreal dream sequences and colorful supporting characters that his main story gradually dries up into a sitcom.

| Feb 11, 2010

Happy Tears, is simply weird. The funny has gone missing.

Full Review | Feb 13, 2009

The story always feels edgily, sometimes jerkily, unpredictable before surprisingly opting for a conventional wrap.

Full Review | Feb 12, 2009

Happy Tears is less of a mess than it looks like, despite its quirk-infested, baggy midsection.

| Feb 12, 2009

In this year's crop of Oscar-nominated shorts, the animated category beats the live-action offerings.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 6, 2009

Moore steals Happy Tears by underplaying -- in what may be the warmest performance of her career.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 6, 2009